


Scarlet Guardians

by Mimiga



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Lake Trio, Literally my best idea ever, Magical Girls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2019-10-08 23:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 59,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17395595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimiga/pseuds/Mimiga
Summary: There is a secret carried by the guardians of Sinnoh's lakes, one that has remained hidden away until humanity needed it most. But as betrayal strikes in the Ultra Megalopalis, a new threat emerges from beyond the veil, and the time for secrets has come to pass. Now it is up to Uzume and her new friends to try and stop the coming disaster before it is too late. Hands joined together, they shall be granted the powers of mystical warriors who represent the aspects of emotion, knowledge, and willpower. Yet even then, will it be enough to hold back the hands of fate and save the world?





	1. Your Heart Knows The Way! Scarlet Verity!

Mesprit's eyes shot open to the pitch blackness of her cavern. The only thing with her was stone and dust, but something somewhere was very, very wrong. She was patient, and waited for the last vestiges of her hazy dream to disappear, thinking that maybe it was a nightmare that woke her up, but the electric feeling lingered in the air for a few more minutes. The fairy unfurled her tails as she stared off into space. It felt like a meteor was about to crash through the ceiling and land directly on her head. Was there something wrong near the lake? 

Azelf's telepathic voice shattered the silence. ' _Did you guys feel that?'_

' _I was really hoping to be the only one,_ ' Uxie answered back. 

The booming sound of the lake's currents above, which were normally white noise to Mesprit's ears, suddenly became overwhelmingly loud. Thousands of tons of water were moving all at once, shifting uneasily in place. It was as if the whole world around her was shuddering from the tension. A shiver ran down her spine. 

' _Well don't just sit there! Tell me what it is'_! Mesprit demanded through her thoughts, speaking up if only to distract herself from the sounds of the lake. 

Azelf sent out a mental grumble. ' _How are we supposed to know? We're in our caves, too! Hrmm...I think it's closest to me--whatever "it" is. It feels kinda north, probably around that one city that's supposed to be carved out of rocks or something.'_

' _Veilstone,'_ Uxie corrected him automatically. ' _The signal is a little vague, but I can make out that the anomaly is to my east. It doesn't necessarily need to be heading in the direction of the city, but it's a good guess nonetheless. The question still stands as to what the danger is.'_

' _It's something bad. Real bad,'_ Mesprit said as she lifted off the ground and began to pace around the cave. ' _Or maybe it's not bad, I dunno yet. All I can tell is that it's something that's not supposed to be here.'_

Azelf went through the effort of expressing a sigh through telepathy. ' _What are we waiting for anyway? It's just going to show up at our doorstep if we don't go out to deal with it first! We should have started moving the minute we felt it!'_

With each moment Mesprit paced around, her insides twisted into tighter and tighter knots. As soon as she couldn't take it anymore, the fairy turned around and plunged into the the inky pool that connected her with the outside world, cringing against the sudden rush of cold. Could it have been a huge fire? No way, Veilstone's just one big rock anyways. Did a sinkhole open up and swallow hundreds of lives whole? A mudslide that buried an entire neighborhood? No no no, it didn't feel like any of that! Mesprit burst out from the surface of the lake, twisted herself in the vague direction in which doom seemed to emanate from, and shot off as quickly as her psychic flight would allow. A full moon shined down from above. 

 

  


_____

 

"Oh my gosh! That's so pretty!" Graci spoke over the roar of the motorboat. She ripped off her helmet, her bright orange hair cascading over her shoulders. The pale blue tint of her skin seemed to meld with the moonlight. "Hey Cymon, look up for crying out loud! All the clouds cleared away! Wow, the light of the moon is so gentle compared to Megalo Tower." 

"We didn't come here to take in the sights," the brutish Cymon answered, still refusing to glance up from the passing waves. "And keep your helmet on, Graci. We’re criminals. We shouldn’t be bringing attention to ourselves." 

"Oh, screw off! Do you honestly believe we're not going to stick out like sore thumbs anyway? Who cares if someone sees our faces? I don’t seen anyone else with blue skin running around in weird suits." Graci scoffed as she brushed her hair back into a manageable state, one boot braced against the railing. "You really should get out more. We've just started our adventure into this crazy alien world and you're already brooding in the corner! Was stealing the boat really not thrilling enough for you?" 

A catty voice spoke from beneath the shadow of the pilot’s hood. "Don't be so harsh on him, dear. He's a straight-forward man, all goals and muscle. What's not to like about someone who can get down to business?" Ottelia sat with her legs crossed, somehow managing to look graceful despite the constant rocking of the boat. Violet curls escaped from the back of her helmet and bounced freely against the seat behind her. "This boat is far from the most exciting thing we've stolen today, to say the least. And besides, all this waiting is fussing up my complexion." 

Without speaking a single word, the tall man at the wheel reached up with his free hand and pulled off his own visor. His confident blue eyes were cast upwards towards the glow of the moon. Everyone's backs stiffened up as he drew a breath through his nose and held it in his lungs. 

"It is a beautiful view, isn't it?" Solisano finally said, and suddenly everyone couldn't help but look up. A thin layer of clouds began to pass over them, but the moon still managed to pierce through the haze. Seconds dragged on before he decided to speak again. "The land we’re looking for shouldn’t be too far off now. We've already taken our first and second steps into this new world, and we'll have to take a hundred more before this is done, but just look up towards the sky if you need any more motivation! Now that’s something to fight for if I've ever seen it!" 

Graci gave a loud shout, Ottelia an affirmative hum, and Cymon a stoic nod. Not quite a rousing cheer, admittedly, but it was more than enough to carry them through. After all, there was much more work to be done before they could to return home. 

 

  


_____

 

The first day of summer didn't come with any fanfare. Without the grating sound of the alarm clock, Uzume only realized it had begun at all when the noon sun snuck past her blinds and shined straight at her face. Groaning, she flipped the pillow onto her face and laid motionless for another few minutes. When it was one-hundred percent clear there wasn’t an ounce of sleep left in her, she pushed the pillow aside and threw off her covers, knocking several plush pokemon onto the floor in the process. She sat on the edge of the bed for another few moments. It’s real funny, she thought to herself. For the first time in her life, she'd rather still be in school than on summer break. 

Uzume went through her morning routine without a thought. It was only when her brush got caught on a knot that she winced awake. What exactly was she planning on doing today? Without any friends to hang out with, what was the point of even going out? She flinched as the brush caught on another tangle. 

..No, of course she couldn't just sulk! If she wasted today, then what was going to stop her from wasting tomorrow, and then the whole break after that? There’s only so many summers in a person’s entire life! The thought of wasting one was next to insanity! “Ow! Stupid hair.” 

Getting dressed for the day was a mental exercise in and of itself. Uzume chose thinner clothes to help stave off the heat, but her heart insisted that there was no reason to go outside at all. It was still way too hot for pajamas, though. What inside things could she even do? She shot a glance towards her sketchpad, but this probably wasn't the right mood to practice drawing, anyway. 

Above the desk hung the one good portrait sketch she'd ever done--a pencil rendition of her best friend Sakuya. It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but just this one time Uzume had somehow managed to capture her smile almost down to the millimeter. It was almost lifelike enough that her chest started to hurt just from looking at it. Yeah, not a good day for drawing at all. 

The entire house was silent. Apart from the ticking of a clock and the distant sound of a lawnmower, there was hardly a peep. Dad was at work like usual, but the absence of her mother was what made everything seem so desolate. On a gorgeous day like this, it was no wonder why mom would be out on the town. Uzume shoved some saltine crackers into her face as she stared out the window, her mind blanked out into oblivion. It was probably horrible out there. The sun's so bright that it'd hurt her eyes, and you could practically fry an egg on the sidewalk with the way things were heating up... 

In a fit of frustration, Uzume downed her entire glass of water in one gulp, then slammed the cup back down onto the counter. "Fine then, brain! Be that way!" her shouts echoed through the empty house. "I'm going out for ice cream whether you like it or not!" She wasted no more time, rushing from the kitchen to the front door and pressing out into the sweltering heat before she could come up with another reason to lounge around. The door shut behind her with a click. There! 

...Ice cream did sound nice, though. No forcing herself to try something new, either. She needed a heavy duty snack to combat this horrible start. Only her favorite flavors today, sprinkled with brownie crumbles and covered in fudge! Then she’d let the fudge melt the top layer of the ice cream so that the consistency was nearly melted yet still cool! 

Fantasies of swirling flavors filled Uzume’s thoughts as she sped down the sidewalk. She barely noticed as a pair of Growlithe started barking at her from behind a fence, too focused on her goal to pay the distraction any mind. The smell of freshly-cut grass wafted over on a breeze, but was quickly overcome by the sweet scent of blooming flowers. A tiny voice in the back of her head urged her to slow down and enjoy the scenery a little more, but when she finally stopped and obeyed that thought, things immediately got weird. 

Across the street was a woman in a peculiar white jumpsuit, searching up and down the block and displaying all the symptoms of being hopelessly lost. When the stranger finally saw Uzume walking past, she called out and rushed across the road towards her. "Hey, hey! You there! Excuse me!" 

"Hi?" Uzume stopped in place, still trying to piece together exactly what she was looking at. What little showed of the woman's skin seemed so pale that it nearly looked blue. Wait, was it actually just blue? How much makeup did you even need to get that deep a color? 

"Okay so, I'm kind of in a weird spot right now," the woman began, panting for breath. It was hard to imagine just how horribly warm it was inside that costume. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a library around here, would you? Also, have you seen anyone around here dressed kinda like I am? There's a big guy who hates fun and never smiles, a skinny girl who looks like she uses too much conditioner, and a tall handsome guy that sorta carries himself like he's always got places to be, you know? Any of them around?" 

Though Uzume couldn't see the woman's eyes beneath the notched visor, it very much felt like they were bearing down on her. "Uhh. I mean, you're not going to find the library around here, that’s for sure. It's all the way across Veilstone, two blocks down from the city hall. It would take about an hour to walk there from this neighborhood." The stranger’s frown was already starting to deepen. "And no, I haven't seen anyone like you around here. Sorry!" 

The woman threw her hands up into the air. "Agh! This was supposed to be the easy part! Oh yeah sure, I’ll split up so we can cover more ground! That won’t end in disaster at all! Sheesh! I can't even find the meeting spot!" 

"So, uh," Uzume didn't really know where to begin. "What are you wearing those costumes for, anyway? Is there some kind of party going on?" 

"Hm? I'm wearing this suit because god forbid I even try to fit in. Nevermind the hundred-degree weather, that's definitely not as important as sticking out like a sore thumb! Stupid Cymon..." She looked back one last time before storming off down the sidewalk. "Thanks for the help!" 

The strange woman turned the corner and disappeared before Uzume could tell her that she was still heading in the wrong direction. After a few stunned seconds, she let the breath fall from her mouth, shrugged, and continued on her way. 

After that encounter, nothing particularly out of the ordinary happened for the rest of the way. Cement and pavement faded into pale grey brickwork, supposedly carved from the mountains nearby. Now, they were just another bright surface for the sunlight to reflect off and shoot straight into her eyes, putting her in a permanent scowl. She wove past the crowds and shops, tracing the same path she took every other weekend and trying hard not to think about how she was walking it alone. 

Just a short ways past the old park, around that decent burger place where someone once fist-fought a Toxicroak, past that black-haired girl in her class who always jogged around with a Mienfoo, and there it was. Uzume plunged into the ice cream shop without a hint of hesitation, and if not for the line, she would have made her order right then and there. She rapidly tapped her foot while she waited for an indecisive little kid to glance over every last flavor. When he finally chose a strawberry cone, she silently nodded in approval. At least he had good taste. 

It finally came time for her to step up to the counter. The gangly man running the joint, who looked thoroughly pleased to be surrounded by freezers in an air-conditioned building, recognized her immediately and smiled. "Uzume! There you are! I was when you'd show up. With no school and the street lamps practically melting outside, it was just a matter of time. I could've sworn I actually saw somebody getting ready to cook something on the pavement while I was coming in today. Your usual, then?" 

"Please!" Uzume's mouth started to water as she eagerly watched the process unfold from behind the glass window. Wasting no time, she reached deep into her pocket to pull out the last of her allowance from last month and started counting. 

"You usually don't come in here alone, you know," the owner said as he scooped up an overly-generous amount of ice cream. "Where's Sakuya? Did her parents drag her off to a business trip again?" 

Uzume paused. A brief pang of pain shot through her chest. "She moved away," she said as flatly as possible, concentrating on counting the same few dollar bills over and over again. Something was off, but what was it? Come on, stop getting distracted! One, two... 

"Ah. Hopefully she's doing alright, then. I know it can be hard to move around at that young an age. Tell her I said hi next time you speak with her, yeah?" After the finishing touches were finally made, the man slid the overfilled plastic boat over the counter. "There you go. Remember to actually drink some water while you're out there. Ice cream ain't going to cut it." 

One, two, a half...Oh no. Not now. Literally any other time but now. "I- uh. I don't think I have enough-" 

"Whatever you have's fine by me. It don't matter much." 

Uzume's eyes shot up. She was met with a wrinkled smile as the owner continued. "Really, it's fine. You stop by plenty often enough. It's the least I could do for customer like you, yeah? 'Sides, it really is hot out there." 

It was like her heart just dove off a cliff with a bungee cord around its waist. After Uzume sputtered out as many thanks as she had the breath for, she took her ice cream and left out the heavy glass doors, cradling the dessert like her life depended on it. She came to the first bench she could find and sat straight down. 

The wondrous aroma of chocolate goodness overpowered anything else the breeze could blow her way. This was what summer was about right here. No school to worry about, no obligations or to places to be, and certainly no work to do. Just hot fudge and strawberry ice cream and not caring at all. 

...Was there someone crying nearby? 

Uzume looked up and began to piece together what had unfolded. It was the same little kid that was before her in line. He was sitting on the corner of the sidewalk, wiping at his eyes and trying to hold his cries in. Meanwhile, the ice cream cone he had bought was laying in the street, half-melted and totally unsalvageable. Poor kid must have gotten too excited and tripped on his shoe laces. And so close to the store, too--he probably didn't even get more than a few licks in before he lost it. 

Man, that could have been her. How bad would it have felt if she walked five steps out those glass doors and immediately fell flat on her face, tossing her last hope for a decent day into the street? The thought was almost too much to bear, which made it all the more conflicting inside when she stood up and started towards the boy. 

Oh come on, Uzume! Don't do this! You can't just throw your whole day away like this! Just this one time, let nature take its course around you. There's not even anybody around, stop feeling like you're being judged! Despite every siren that was blaring in her head, Uzume knelt down next to the boy. 

"Hey,” she spoke up. “Did you drop your ice cream?" Yes of course he dropped his ice cream you idiot. 

The boy sniffled in surprise, blinking away at his tears to look at her. "I- some lady r-rushed by and I almost fell over." By the time he had choked out the one sentence, another sob had already gotten stuck in his throat. 

"Hey hey, no more crying. Sssh. It's alright. I'll let you have mine if you want." Uzume presented her favorite treat with a smile, her gut twisting up into knots. "I know it's a little extra than what you got, but the ice cream itself is the same flavor, right? You wouldn't mind a little extra chocolate?" 

"N-no..." The boy reached out and slowly took the ice cream from her. A long moment passed while he first tasted what was essentially mankind's greatest creation. His face softened considerably, and he quickly went in for another spoonful. 

"There we go. Be more careful with this one, alright?" 

After the kid nodded blissfully, Uzume stood up, started walking back towards the bench, then dodged right past it and into the grassy park. The polite smile she had stapled onto her face finally fell away. 

There, you did it. You did the good thing that other people wouldn't have done. Do you feel like a hero yet? Uzume shook her head to herself as she sped past a boy and a Riolu playing frisbee. It was the right thing to do. What kind of monster would chomp down on their ice cream while watching a kid sob like that? Certainly not her, that's for sure. It was more than just the right thing, it was pretty much her only choice. 

A short ways deeper into the park was a tiny gathering of trees and bushes, one that had been growing ever since her parents moved here twenty years ago. Nobody really bothered to trim it away since it was planted here as a part of some community event however long ago. The only value it had to her at this very second was in being a place to crawl into and die in peace. 

Without caring who might have saw, Uzume pushed straight through the barrier of bushes, ignoring the scratches the branches gave her. She emerged into a cool pocket of open space amidst the foliate, shaded from the blistering sun and ripe with the scent of rich soil. There was something intensely familiar about this place, though whatever memory it drew upon was too vague to recognize. 

Uzume slid down the trunk of a tree and rested her chin on her knees. She must have come to this park hundreds of times, but the only time that seemed to stand out was from a picnic when she was only five. That's probably what it was, honestly. Just barely long ago that she could remember what happened, but still old enough to form long-term memories at all...That was the picnic where her parents met Sakuya's, wasn't it? 

She sighed and hid her face behind her knees. What difference was that ice cream going to make, anyways? What did she plan on doing about the rest of this miserable day once it was eaten? What about tomorrow, and for the rest of the summer? She was alone, For today, tomorrow, the week, the month, and all of summer until it was over. That wasn't going to change no matter how much ice cream she ate. It was going to be the same thing every single day until- 

"What're you doing in here?" 

Uzume's thoughts were interrupted by a tiny, feminine voice. She didn’t bother looking up. It was probably just some kid who saw her crawl into here and thought it was interesting. 

"Nothing," Uzume answered as she burrowed deeper into her own arms and legs, hoping that the child would eventually become disinterested and leave. The shuffling of leaves told her that the attempt was totally unsuccessful. 

"This is kind of a weird place to be hanging out, don't you think? Are you lonely?" The voice came even closer than before. "I could help you not be lonely if you want." 

God, why couldn’t they just go away?! "Listen, kid. Why don't you go mind your own-WAH!" 

Uzume looked up expecting to see a little girl or something, and instead was face-to-face with a tiny floating creature. She recoiled backwards and fell into the brush, losing all sense of direction in a blur of leaves. After recovering from the shock, she started upright with a jolt. "What? Oh geez you're a pokemon. You were a pokemon this whole time." 

The tiny creature crossed their arms, an indignant look on their pink face. Its two long tails twitched. "I've been a pokemon since before your great grandfather was born, I don't see why that would be an important fact now...What? You never heard a pokemon talk before? It's more common than you think, you know." 

"I- I don't even...How are you talking to me?" Uzume gasped, less startled and more amazed than she was a moment ago. 

"With my mouth," the pokemon chuckled. "No, actually I use psychic powers to vibrate the air in my throat in different ways so that it sounds like words. Then I propel those words from my face with that same power like a weird tiny electronic megaphone." 

Uzume narrowed her eyes and huffed through her nose. "I mean- I’m pretty sure you’re just messing with me, right?" 

"Well that's what you get for asking silly questions," the fairy stuck their tongue out. "Does it really matter how I can talk? You're the one that was sitting in a bunch of bushes looking like you were about to cry. I think it's more important that you stopped doing that." 

Effortlessly levitating in the air, the pokemon circled around Uzume as they were searching for any last signs of misery, finally coming to a stop right in front of her face. "Are you gonna let yourself be sad all day or are you gonna actually have fun? Name something you wanna do besides sulk and we'll do it." 

"What? I mean- well, uh..." After a few moments of silence, it became painfully clear that Uzume still had no idea what to do. Her chest started to hurt again. What all this introspection eventually boiled down to was a shrug and a sad look on her face. 

"Seriously?" the creature scoffed. "Well if you're going to be like that then I'm going to have to force you to be happy. Don't even think about arguing, you’ve brought this upon yourself." 

The fairy reared back, sucked in a deep breath, and lurched forward again with crossed eyes and ballooned cheeks. It took Uzume a good few seconds to even register the silly face in the first place. The longer she stared, the more ridiculous it became, the harder it was to stop herself from smiling. 

Before it was too late, Uzume looked away and covered her mouth, trying as hard as she could to force the smile away. That's way too cheap! It’s not a reason to feel better in the first place! The pokemon persisted in its efforts, constantly trying to float into her field of vision all the while keeping up that stupid face. It was practically insulting to think that a cheap laugh could ever make her situation any less horrible. 

"Ah! You smiled! I saw!" the fairy cried out, spitting out all the air that was stuck in their cheeks. 

"Go away!" Uzume screamed back to keep a traitorous giggle down. Upon feeling one of the pokemon’s tails brush against her arm, she clenched her fists and recoiled away. "If that's all you're going to do then leave me alone! My problems aren't going to fix themselves just because you're making stupid faces!" 

The pokemon's expression softened. "What would make your problems go away, then?" 

"Nothing! Nothing's going to make them go away! My friend’s gone now and I’m completely alone! What am I supposed to do about that, huh? What do you expect me to do now? Something as dumb as a single smile is never going to help fix that!” 

Despite all the verbal abuse that had been flung their way, the fairy seemed completely unphased, and simply blinked back with bright golden eyes. "Do you want to be left alone?" 

Uzume was just about ready to start pulling out her own hair. "Yes! Of course I want to be alone!” 

“But you don’t want to be alone, though.” 

“You- I- I want to be alone right now, though! That’s why I crawled into these bushes in the first place! Now’s not the time for random talking pokemon to burst in and bug me!” Uzume turned away and crossed her arms, unintentionally rubbing the spot that its tail had touched her. 

The fairy frowned. "Nothing's going to change if I leave. You'll just sit in this spot for a while and wait for some revelation to come until you finally decide to go home. Then you'll wake up tomorrow with the same feelings that you have now. If I stay with you here, then maybe it won’t have to be that way." 

"Oh yeah?" Uzume snorted. "You really think you have it all figured out, huh? Is that really what’s going to happen?" 

She glanced back and saw the pokemon's pupils sharpen. "That is exactly what would happen," they said without a shadow of a doubt, glaring straight through her. "And you already know that. That’s why you’ve been worrying about it so much." 

Wake up, stay in bed, waste the day away waiting for Sakuya to come back, go to bed. A few days burn away, that turns into a week before long, and it would only take a few of those before summer is gone and the loneliest school year of her life finally began. Uzume felt her throat tighten up. 

"Okay. So what now, you dumb magical know-it-all fairy? What parts of me are you going to pick apart next?" 

"None." They sighed and settled down into the brush. It was only when the pokemon nearly disappeared beneath the leaves of a fern did Uzume realize how tiny it really was. "I didn't mean to make you mad. I just know that you aren't going to feel any better on your own. Nobody ever really does, you know?" 

Uzume slid back down the trunk of a tree. Her chest felt hollow and her throat was hoarse, but she didn’t really feel like crying anymore. "What do you care, anyway? Why would you go through all this trouble just to cheer me up?" 

"It's pretty much my job to care!" the pokemon exclaimed with a proud grin. "I did follow you for a while, though. It’s pretty easy to notice when someone’s having a bad day in the middle of a bustling park, right? I got-.. Oh no.” 

Without warning, the fairy bolted straight up into the tree’s branches, muttering loudly as they flew from one end of the thicket to the other. "Oh gosh. Who was I supposed to be looking for out here? Uhh...Was it a white suit or a white helmet? Was it both? Dang it, I can’t just ask Uxie again! He’ll get mad at me!" 

"You're looking for someone in a white suit?" Uzume shouted up to the canopy, brushing the dirt off her clothes. 

The pokemon continued to flit around at random. "Was it just white clothes in general or was it something more specific? It was supposed to be super important and I got distracted again!" 

"I saw someone in a white suit and helmet earlier!" she called out. 

In a startling burst of speed, the creature zipped down and flew straight up to her face. "Really?! Where?! What were they doing--was it something weird and otherworldly? I bet it was, wasn't it!? Can you take me to them?" 

Uzume stuttered. "A-all they did was ask for directions. If they did manage to find their way then I probably know where they went. We could-" 

"Take me to them, please!" The same eyes that pierced through her like a sword were now glistening and desperate. It was like the fairy had become a completely different person in the span of minutes. 

Uzume crossed her arms and tried to look conflicted, but it was far too difficult to resist a look like that. "Yeah, I guess. It's kinda far away, though, so try to keep up." 

Pushing past a cloud of sharp twigs and leaves, she emerged into the blinding sunlight once again. The world outside was exactly the same as she had left it. A Riolu ran after a frisbee that had been tossed too far while its owner cheered wildly. A family had a picnic beneath the shade of two trees. A slight breeze whipped up, blowing away the sweltering heat to an almost comfortable level. 

Why did this little thing even need to find someone in a white suit?.. Oh, duh! That weird woman was probably the trainer of this weird pokemon! How did it even take more than a few seconds to figure that out? 

Uzume didn't even make it to the other side of the park before she heard someone in heavy boots stomp on by. By some miracle, the sound ended up being the very woman she was thinking about. A disheveled braid of bright orange hair dangled from her crooked helmet as she jogged past, panting and gasping for breath. After a few moments the stranger suddenly stopped, whipped around, and growled from the bottom of her lungs. "You!" 

"Hey! I think I found your pokemon, miss!" Uzume glanced around for the little fairy, but it was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, uhh...I mean, it was just around here, I swear! It can't have gone-" 

"You BRAT!" the strange woman screamed before ripping off her helmet the rest of the way. Underneath was a scowling blue face covered in sweat and full of fury. "You think you're sooo funny, huh? Leading me around like some kind of-.. of-.. some kind of joke?! Like 'haha I know I'll point her in the wrong direction won't that just be so HILARIOUS?' You rotten child!" 

Uzume took a step back. "I- You just started running in the wrong direction! I even yelled after you and you still didn't hear me!" 

"Psh. Yeah right. Like I'm supposed to believe another stone-faced lie like that! You're just covering your tracks so you don't get into any trouble, but I'm already three steps ahead! Actually, you know what?" 

The woman reached around to pull a small metal object from the back of her belt. The device clicked and sputtered, rung in a horrendously high pitch, then suddenly expanded into something that looked like a dagger of shimmering light. "You know what, though? I don't care what Solisano said. I'm the one that's invading your world! And as my first real act as invader, I'm going to make the world a better place by ridding it of delinquents like you!" 

"Y-you're just going to stab me?!" Uzume could barely speak up, a freezing cold fist wrapped around her guts. She took too many steps back at once and ended up falling onto the grass, but her legs still pushed her backwards. 

The woman smirked. "Oh no, even better! I'm going to tear apart the fabric of the universe and let whatever comes out decide what to do with you! My name's Graci, by the way. You won't remember it when you're dead!" 

In one swift motion Graci took the bar of light and stabbed it into the thin air, where it seemingly made impact with something and disappeared right down to the hilt. She pulled down on the device with all her weight. Distortions of light began around the wound, bending inward like the refraction of a glass sphere. The mirage got worse and worse until, finally, the universe gave way with a bright flash. Graci went flying backwards, and in her place was a huge crack of frozen blue light. 

Time seemed to stop. Breathless and stunned, Uzume stared at the anomaly in utter amazement. There was a flicker of motion from deep within the crack. She scrambled to her feet, never taking her eyes off the tear for even a second. Something was coming through, something was coming through! 

Graci's merciless laughter rang out into the sky as a creature burst through the portal, landing with a dull thud in the grass. The very first thing Uzume thought of when she saw it was a carnival. Its spindly legs struggled to find their balance at first, but it moved in an almost whimsical way that almost appeared intentionally clumsy. The colors that ran up its thin body made no sense at all, and its head seemed to literally just be a ball suspended above a neck of ribbony frills. 

"Ah, now that’s a wonderful find!" Graci cheered on from the sidelines. "Now you'll see what happens to little girls who think it's funny to pick on poor, helpless young women! Blacephalon, wreak some havoc!" 

The clownish creature made a noise that crossed between a whistle and a bunch of tiny popping firecrackers. It turned towards a parked car and somehow picked up its own head, which was now colored nearly completely red, and threw it. 

At first, Uzume thought it was actually kind of funny. She would have giggled, had the car not exploded in a fiery blaze just one second later. The shockwave hit her like a brick wall, nearly knocking her to the ground outright. Ears ringing, she turned in horror to the creature, who was already starting to regenerate another head. It looked red and angry, and it looked like it was glaring right at her. 

"Run!" 

Uzume heard the fairy’s voice from somewhere behind her, but she was already booking it in the opposite direction. Screams erupted around the park. Cars screeched to a half and honked. The world rushed by as her heart pumped hot adrenaline straight into her bloodstream. The fairy seemed to be running with her, a pink blur just on the edges of her vision. Not that she had any time to care. There was another explosion from behind her, and it wasn't nearly as distant as she would have liked. 

She ran as fast as she could, but the creature never seemed far enough behind. Uzume ended up ducking into an alley at some point, weaving past the dumpsters and finally coming to a dead-end. Her lungs burned for air, and her heart practically jumped into her throat with every beat. 

"What...the heck..." she muttered to herself. Okay, stop. Think. What just happened? What the heck was that thing? Did someone seriously just tear open a hole in time and space to summon an alien clown that blows things up with its head? 

"We have to keep going! Come on!" The fairy appeared once more and tugged on her sleeve. "It's still not safe here!" 

Uzume shook her head. "No way. I'm not going-.. I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers. Graci is your trainer, isn't she? Explain that portal! Explain all of this!" 

The pokemon stuttered. "W-what? I have no idea who that was, or what that monster is! I have about as good an idea of what happened as you do! Look, we're both going to die if you just sit here and wait for it to find us!" 

Right on cue, another boom echoed off in the distance, the reverberation bouncing through the alley. It was starting to get closer again. Where was Maylene? And the whole gym? Aren't they supposed to handle dangerous stuff like this?! 

The next explosion was just around the block. Uzume's breath caught in her throat, but she swallowed it back down. There was no way it could just blow stuff up forever. She just needed to stall for time until someone stronger got here to deal with it. Easy enough, right? Just keep running. 

Fists clenched, Uzume turned the corner and prepared to bolt out into the street once more, only for a misshapen shadow to move over the entrance of the alley. Just as quickly as she gathered her courage, Uzume twisted straight around and slipped back behind a dumpster. 

"Oh god oh god oh god It's right there isn't it." 

"Stay low!" the fairy whispered harshly in her ear. As if she needed to be told that. Desperately trying to get a grip on her quivering breath, Uzume crouched down and listened to the creature's light footsteps against the concrete. 

Tap...tap...tap. It made another whistling pop. 'Found you'. 

The footsteps came closer and closer. This was gonna be it. This was how she was going to die. It’s more funny now how big of a deal she’d been making out of today. God, even the ice cream thing was just a ridiculous memory now, wasn't it? Was she seriously crying over that? At least Sakuya wasn't here to get blown up by a freaky dimensional alien with her! 

Tap...tap...tap. 

"Hey," the pink pokemon muttered from beside her. "I can probably get us out of this. Or at least, I can do something that gives us a chance. I just need one thing from you, though." 

Uzume was barely listening. "Do it then. Whatever it is, just do it. Don't wait!" 

"I'm serious," it said, flying straight up to her face. "I just need you to make a promise. And I really do mean an honest, genuine promise has gotta be made. No kidding around here." 

Tap...tap...tap. 

"Hurry up, then!" she choked. 

The fairy smiled for some reason, and it was the most comforting thing Uzume had ever seen in her life. "I like you. You might be a little moody, but your heart is always full, no matter if it’s with good feelings or bad. You know how to be kind, too, even when it hurts. I know that I can trust someone like you until the end of time. So, will you be my friend?" 

It was possibly the most ridiculous thing Uzume could have ever imagined hearing while death was less than ten feet away. And yet, despite everything, she somehow managed to smile back. 

"Alright, I promise." 

Their hands met. Uzume's fingers enveloped the fairy's tiny arms, but for the first time since Sakuya left, she didn't feel quite as alone anymore. The creature's shadow was towering over them now, but a wave of calmness had washed over her. Then came a pang of determination, intense and undeniable. The creature lifted its head into the air. 

The little gems that adorned the fairy’s body started to glow a brilliant red, and in the blink of an eye, it rushed forward and disappeared straight into Uzume’s chest. A huge gust of wind suddenly whipped around her, knocking the alien completely off-balance and effortlessly blowing open the metal lid of the dumpster. A tingling sensation washed through her body as her legs stood up on their own. Her feet left the ground entirely. 

Shrouded in a warm light, things started to change. Her body soon no longer felt like it belonged to her, but to someone more lithe and strong. Her hair grew half a foot in an instant, then arranged itself into two long twirls down her shoulders. Even her clothes started to tighten and change. Words that weren’t her own bubbled up from somewhere deep inside her chest, but it felt so right that she couldn't bear to keep them down. 

 

"Precious moments, as fleeting as a breath,

Faces come and go, but their smiles always stay, 

Believe in love beyond distance or death!

Know that your heart knows the way!

Vessel of Emotion, Scarlet Verity!"

 

And then Uzume realized she was floating, staring down at the monster who was staring back up at her with its own head in its hands. Silence fell, and aside from the gentle wind, everything was completely still. 

"What?" she muttered. Even her voice had changed. "What did you just do to me? Why am I...not me? Are- are these your tails? Why are the coming out of me? Just what kind of pokemon are you?" 

' _We should probably run away now,'_ the fairy’s voice came from directly within her own mind. 

Before Uzume could ask any more questions, the creature reared back to launch its own head at her. She panicked, kicking her legs through the air to no avail until something finally clicked in her brain and carried her forward. The bomb missed her by just an inch, but the resulting shockwave still her sailing out into the street like a weightless ragdoll. If the pokemon inside her hadn't taken control and corrected the course, she would have fallen out of the air and gotten a face-full of cement. 

Dazed but assumedly not dead, Uzume managed to right herself and glance back at the dust cloud where the alley had once been. The monster waded through a pile of crumbling bricks and whistled with rage--or at least, she figured that it was rage by the overwhelming aura that seemed to surround it. 

"Okay, magical friendship fairy, If you had any plans for the part after you flew into me, now would be a really great time to say! I don't like the way that clown thing is looking at me." 

The voice in her head hesitated. ' _Well don't you feel how angry it is? Obviously you've gotta calm it down somehow!'_

"How do you expect me to go about doing that?! You want me to give it my ice cream or something?!" 

' _You're a super-powerful ancient warrior now so I'm sure you'll figure it out!'_

Despite the raw malice emanating from the monster, it danced and twirled around the rubble like it was having the time of its life. For the split second Uzume let her guard down, it immediately launched a huge plume of flames from the hole in its neck. She gasped, held her arms in front of her face, and shut her eyes tight. 

By all rights, she should have been burnt to a crisp, yet for some reason, the only thing that washed over her was an uncomfortable wave of heat.. When Uzume opened her eyes once more, she found herself surrounded by a glimmering pink bubble, stray embers flitting through the air. 

' _See?'_ Mesprit spoke up. 

Wait, how did she know its name was Mesprit? 

' _Mutual telepathy, dummy!'_ the fairy answered the private thought without hesitation. ' _Now stop messing around and fight that thing already! Just use your instincts or something, I'll help out where I can! Remember, you're Scarlet Verity right now!'_

What was that even supposed to mean? Uzume looked down at her hands--which she really didn’t believe were her own hands anymore--then back up at the enraged creature. Realization struck like a bolt of lightning. This was obviously all just a dream! So little things make sense right now, there’s no way it’s all real! And if that was the case than fighting back should be as easy as... 

A flick of the wrist and a little bit of faith was all it took to feel some kind of energy waft through her fingers. Uzume took that same mentality but to a fist instead, aiming it towards the monster. With a swing of her arm, she fired off a bright bolt of light, which landed squarely into the monster’s thin torso. It reeled back and fired off two shadow balls in return, which Uzume dove around with ease. Oh god she was actually doing it. 

' _Come on, let's lead it back to the tear! I think I've figured out a way to beat it!'_ Mesprit chimed in. 

"And that would be?" 

' _You'll have to get in really close and touch it!'_

"Oh, sounds wonderful!" Uzume groaned. 

Flying around was not nearly as difficult once she stopped thinking about it. Pumped full of adrenaline and struck with an unnatural sense of duty, Uzume soared over the deserted city streets, dodging airborne explosions and returning fire with her own strange projectiles. 

The monster eventually stopped trying to do its deceiving jig altogether, sprinting after her with all guns blazing. Even after getting serious, however, Uzume was too fast of a moving target for it to reliably hit. Before long they were battling on the same grassy field where all of this began, the smell of smoke still fresh on the breeze. 

Graci, who had been fanning herself on a bench nearby, instantly shot up from the commotion. She took a long look at the pink-haired girl who was flying through the air and shooting bolts of light at the beast she had summoned, then slammed her helmet against the bench. "Gaah! What is it now? Why can't I get a single minute of rest in this unbearable world? Blacephalon, hurry it up!" 

The creature was trying its best--it really was--but all this effort and exertion was starting to take its toll. Its movements started to become sluggish, and every subsequent toss of its head was further and further off its mark. For all the blinding rage the monster was in, Uzume started to its sense desperation and pain. This thing wasn't just a mindless rampaging monster. Sure, it only knew how to dance around and blow stuff up, but who could blame it? The last thing anyone would want to see in the morning was Graci's screaming face. 

"Mesprit, it's going to hurt itself if we keep going! We have to do something now!" Uzume shouted, dashing ahead further than its attacks could reach. She was starting to get tired, too. Her new body definitely felt like it wasn’t used to fighting like this. For a lucid dream, this felt a little too vivid for her liking. 

' _We only need to wear it down just a little bit more! Once you can get in close, put your hands on it and let me take care of everything else!'_ Sensing the obvious reservations Uzume had about getting anywhere close to that thing, Mesprit continued in a hushed tone. ' _Part one of being my friend is that you gotta trust me, alright? I'm not going to let you get hurt. I promise.'_

This was all just a dream, right? Uzume clenched her fist, stretching the tight glove that had been superimposed onto her hand. She twisted around mid-flight and slowed to a stop, tingling jolts of electricity coursing through her veins. The monster was really hurting now, but it just kept on pushing through the pain. This had to end sooner rather than later. 

She took in a lungful of air and motioned like she was kicking off of a wall, launching forward with as much speed as she knew how to harness. The colorful beast crouched down and placed both its hands on its head, nearly tripping over itself in the process. It lifted up. She squinted against the wind. This was really going to hurt. 

' _Just one touch! Verity!'_

Uzume collided with the creature's thin chest. Almost all her momentum instantly disappeared, but it wasn't because she crashed. It was like some kind of brake went off in her head right before the impact. She glanced upwards, not daring to even take a breath. The creature was in a perfect position to bring the bomb straight down on her back. 

It never did. Cloaked in a gentle red glow, it had stopped moving entirely. An odd sense of tranquility seemed to replace the smoke in the air. 

"Relax. It's done now," the words that spilled out of Uzume's mouth weren't her own, but this time they didn't feel so foreign this time. "You don't have to fight anymore. Leave this place and return home. Let go of your rage. Let go, let go..." 

The glow intensified, shrunk into a single point on the creature’s body, then blew away like an ember in the wind. Uzume pulled away from the beast, who lifted up its head and placed it back over the opening on its neck. It gave a quick chirp before turning towards the pulsing rip in space. 

"Hey! No, no no no! You get back here right now!" Graci ran in front of the beast to block its path, but it merely danced around her and sauntered onward. The blue woman started to shake the portal device up and down in anger. "Do you know how much work somebody else put into making that wormhole, Blacephalon? You can't just leave!" 

And yet, it did just that. The creature jumped right back into the tear, which quickly closed behind it with a loud pop. Aside from all the destruction everywhere, it hadn’t left a single trace. 

Graci whipped around and pointed a finger towards Uzume. "You're that same brat, aren't you? Why, why, WHY?! Why are you so determined to RUIN EVERYTHING? You have made the WORST mistake in your LIFE by making an enemy out of me! I swear I'll remember this!" For as much as she screamed, the strange woman didn't seem nearly as intimidating when she was running away, helmet beneath her arm and sweat rolling down her face. 

As soon as Uzume’s feet touched the ground, a sudden burst of exhaustion spread through her entire body. There was a blinding flash, then both her and Mesprit collapsed on the grass. It was a kind of tired she had never really experienced before, like all of the heat had been wrung out of her insides. She decided to just sprawl out on the ground and soak up as much sunlight as possible, hoping that it could warm the cold fatigue that gripped onto her. 

"This isn't a dream, by the way," Mesprit sputtered, gasping for breath. "That was real, and I haven't done that in like...I haven't done that in like two hundred years!" 

"Pssh. Of course it's a dream." Uzume replied, squinting up at the sky. Still, though, the sun was awfully bright for it to just be her imagination. And you know, in most nightmares she would have been able to wake herself up during that part where the monster was walking down the alley towards her hiding place, but she was very much not awake by the time it reached the dumpster... 

"Oh my god all of this really just happened didn't it?" 

The fairy raised her head and smiled. "Alright, new-friend. What else are we gonna do today? Unlocking ancient powers got me so hungry that I could eat a whole car!" 

 

  


_____

 

"Hey, could you turn your head to the right a little?" Uzume motioned with her pencil, then glanced back down at the sketch paper with furrowed brows. 

"Like this?" Mesprit tilted her head in the wrong direction. "Anyways, I'm the one that had to fly the farthest to even get to this city, right? Even though I was totally the one that sensed the threat first! Could you even believe that lady, though? I mean, what the heck was up with her? Blue skin, orange hair, very angry, likes to tear holes in space and time...Sheesh! Wait, why am I up here? What have you been doing this whole time?" 

Adjusting the lamp with her free hand, Uzume hushed the fairy and stared intensely at the sheet of paper. She eventually shook her head and added to the growing pile of eraser shavings, starting again with a renewed fury. "I'm drawing you, duh. What else does it look like? Hold still for a little bit longer I just need to get this one part right." 

"Is it really that hard? I'm just a cute, tiny fairy is all. Nothing too complex about that." Mesprit kept tapping her foot on the desk, but managed to stay still well enough. Her eyes wandered around the room until they eventually met with a portrait of a young girl, proudly displayed up on the wall behind her. "You sure do like drawing, huh? Who's that supposed to be?" 

"That's Sakuya. She’s been my best friend since I was in preschool. She moved away just after school ended for the summer, and I've been alone ever since." Despite how morbid it sounded coming out of her mouth, Uzume didn't seem to actually feel much saying it. Maybe she was concentrating on drawing a single curve over and over a little too much. 

"Oh." The fairy stared down at a metal cup of pens for a while. "Why'd she move?" 

"Her parents moved for business reasons, so she had to go with them. Now she's all the way in Unova." One more violent erasing later, Uzume was back at it again. 

"Right. You told me about that earlier today. Sorry I forgot." 

Uzume hushed her again. "No time to be sad about it. How's this look?" She held up the sketchpad. The drawing was clearly rushed, and it at least kind of looked like the pokemon, but there were a bunch of tiny mistakes that ended up making her look like a sumo wrestler with ten mile long tails. Before the fairy could even giggle at the drawing, Uzume pulled it away and hissed to herself. "No no no, don't answer that! I'm gunna need to work on it later!" 

"What'd you even ask me for, then?" Mesprit chuckled. Just then, a fuzzy feeling invaded the back of her head. 

' _Mesprit! Where are you?'_ Azelf shouted with as much authority as telepathy could allow. ' _It's been six hours since we've heard anything from you! Did you even try to get to the library?'_

The fairy's face sharpened. ' _Uh, duh? Of course I did. But I ended up finding another one of the white-suited people, so it doesn't really matter whether I made it or not! Also I made another Scarlet Guardian just so you guys know.'_

' _U-um,_ ' Uxie stuttered out. ' _Could you repeat that last thing you just said?'_

Azelf completely overtook the mental airways. ' _You did WHAT? Since when did any of us okay that at literally any point?! You can't just go around and- and-'_ There was a long pause. ' _Why do you always do this? Why do you always gotta be the one that makes the first Guardian? Shouldn't it be a unanimous vote kind of thing'?_

 

"Uh, Mesprit?" Uzume waved her hand in front of the fairy's face, but she continued to stare off into the distance with a disgruntled look on her face. "Mesprit! Is something wrong or is this a normal thing for pokemon like you?" 

"Wha- huh? What's going on?" After a moment or two, Mesprit finally seemed to snap back to reality. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just arguing with my two siblings over the ethics of creating superpowered warriors. And also we really need to go to the library tomorrow, apparently. That's where I was supposed to go today, but you kind of distracted me, and then the explodey dude also kind of distracted me. There was another of those blue people there today." 

Another one? Uzume bit the end of her pencil. "I guess I'm committing to this Scarlet Verity thing, huh?" 

"You sure are!" the fairy chimed. 

"Hm." Leaning back in her chair, Uzume glanced up towards the ceiling and sighed. Yeah, maybe all of this was crazy. Yeah, maybe it was all moving way too fast. And yeah, it was a lot of responsibility to have to make sure people don't get killed or hurt by monsters that can throw their heads as bombs. But the feeling from this morning--that gnawing loneliness--it was completely gone. Every time she looked over at Mesprit, every drop of pessimism stuck inside her just evaporated on the spot. It felt like hope. Even if this summer was going to suck, she wouldn’t be alone.


	2. Sea to Stars! Scarlet Acquity!

The warehouse was deathly silent. The only sound that filled the space was Solisano's irritated pacing, which echoed through the building like drums of war. Nobody else moved a muscle. It felt like the tiniest noise could set him off. Graci stood at attention underneath the harsh glow of industrial fluorescent lights, nearly shaking in anticipation. 

"And so, because of that, you summoned an ultra beast?" Solisano's voice was soft and gentle now, but everyone already knew that the dam would burst any second now. 

"W-Well-!" Graci could barely stutter out a response. "I wanted to test out the portal device so that I knew it worked! I mean, what if we went to open a portal in an emergency and it just didn't do anything at all? Th-that would-" 

Their leader raised his hand. "I knew that it would work. I was the one that designed and built these machines. The reason I stole them back from the institute is so that we could have a trump card. They were meant for an actual emergency, not just having a bad day. Do you understand?" 

"I- I-" 

Solisano slammed his fist against the side of a metal crate, the sound reverberating throughout the building like a gunshot. "That was our plan, dammit! We haven't even been here for a full day on this planet and you've ALREADY potentially given us away! Not only that, but you did so having made absolutely no progress at all! Meanwhile, on the competent side of things, Ottelia not only managed to find a library, but she even started researching further into this world, AND managed to write a report on it!" 

Ottelia smirked from the sidelines. 

Graci stared at the floor, utterly defeated. "I'm sorry, sir." 

"Give me your portal device," commanded Solisano, holding out his hand. The orange-haired woman surrendered the gadget without a moment's hesitation. "We have two of these. That is all we will have, and all we should need. I entrusted this to you because you were out on a potentially compromising mission, but I see now that your idiocy is the only thing that made it compromising at all." 

After a brief pause, Solisano turned to Ottelia and handed her the device. He uttered no words, but she fully understood what he meant. She idly played with the perfect violet curls of her hair, a sly grin stuck on her face. "It's only a matter of time, darling. Just leave it all to me and we'll all have what we've been waiting for. I'll get you your light." 

"But what about the girl!" Graci shouted out. "Blacephalon didn't just leave because it wanted to! She did something to pacify it! I saw it with my own two eyes! You can't tell me something isn't totally up with that!" 

Cymon was the one who answered. "Human children cannot fly. They cannot fire blasts of light, and they cannot survive encounters with ultra beasts, let alone pacify them. There's no use in lying anymore if you're going to do it so poorly." 

She slammed her foot down on the concrete. "I'm not lying! That girl really did transform into something else! I mean, I get it. Human kids can't shoot laser beams out of their eyes and crap like that. I'm not as stupid as you think I am! But still, how do we know there isn't a pokemon that can take a host body like Nihilego?" 

"If there is," Solisano raised his voice. "do you think I care? A pokemon like that isn't going to bring us our light. It doesn't even matter if that pokemon exists, nor does it matter who's using it to fight the ultra beasts we aren't supposed to be summoning. Ottelia will continue her work researching the mythology of this world. Cymon and I will secure us a stockpile of supplies for this mission. And you, Graci, will be very unhappy with your punishment." 

 

  


_____

 

It was a quiet day in the Veilstone City library. In the very back corner of the reading area, a young girl glared out from behind the cover of an astronomy book. She scanned the section for a few seconds, sighed, then brushed a lock of blonde hair out from beneath her glasses. That suspicious woman still wasn't back yet. Ikane opened up a random page in her book, her eyes automatically absorbing a passage she had already read plenty of times before. 

A minute or so later, Ikane looked back up to see the white-suited woman return with an arm full of books and folders. The girl raised her astronomy book just high enough to look like she was still reading, but never once took her eyes off them. They sat down at a table on the opposite end of the area, then immediately started digging into the first book on the top of the stack. They were looking for something. 

Ikane adjusted her glasses and glanced back down. When she saw this person yesterday, she barely payed them any mind beyond how strange they looked. It wasn't until she got home and listened to the news that the pieces started to fall into place. There had been some sort of rampage downtown, made by an unknown creature that was supposedly commanded by someone extremely specific. White suit, visored helmet, blue skin. Just like the woman sitting over there. 

But it couldn't have been the same person. The attack happened at the same time of day that Ikane saw this lady here. Unless there was a secret to literally being in two places at once, there were at least two of these suited people, and judging from the property damage yesterday, they were dangerous. Still, Ikane could hardly contain her curiosity. There was definitely something going on here that she wasn't supposed to know. That's what made it so exciting in the first place. 

Just as Ikane glanced back up, a flicker of motion caught her eye for just a split second. The suited woman remained completely still, but it seemed like something had appeared above her head, like the faint shadow of a leaf as it falls to the ground. Several seconds passed, but there was nothing really there. It must have been her imagination. She looked down and rolled her tongue in her mouth, trying to recreate the illusion by staring intensely at the page in front of her. It hurt a little, but it didn't cause any distortions like that. What if... What if there already was a monster on the loose? There was no way, right? 

Ikane closed her book, stood up from her chair, and started to leave. She slowed down as she walked past the woman, absorbing everything she possibly could in that brief moment. The woman was furiously scribbling down notes. The book they were reading had something to do with mythology and legends, at least judging by the cover. There was no random flickers of motion in the air. The brief glimpsed ended as Ikane passed by and into a corridor of tall bookcases. She turned the corner and finally sighed through her teeth. 

...Well? What now? That barely helped, but it wasn't like she could have lingered any longer than she did. There had to be something more to figure out while over here. 

Ah, there! Ikane hurried over to the rolling ladder at the end of the bookcase and pushed it along, taking extreme care not to make any noise. Once it was just about lined up with where the woman was sitting on the other side, she started to climb. There were a few ladders in the library that liked to creak up a storm, but luckily enough this was one of the newer ones. 

The highest shelf was still only just above her head by the time she had reached the final rung. Ikane stretched her whole body, stood on the tips of her toes, and peered over the very top of the bookcase. Even after all this effort, she still wasn't quite tall enough to look down on the strange woman. 

What she did find, however, was a great deal of dust that had been building up for however many years people have forgotten to clean up here. More than that, there were scuffs in a few places like someone had taken their hand and wiped it over the surface. It must have happened sometime recently since there wasn't even a second layer of dust building up yet. Why would anyone ever need to reach up here, though? 

Ikane saw the air flicker once more. A smear appeared in the dust right before her very eyes. Whatever was making that weird distortion was literally right there in front of her, less than two feet away at most. Her mind completely blanked out. She didn't know whether to feel startled, excited, or downright mortified. Her brain only kicked back on when she felt her foot slip out from beneath her, but by then it was too late. She sucked in a gasp, shut her eyes tight, and braced herself as she tumbled away. 

One long second passed mid-air. Then two. Then...three? Huh? She still wasn't touching the ground by any means, but the wind had stopped rushing by her ears. Ikane opened her eyes. There was a small creature peering down at her from the top of the bookcase. It had a yellow crest that took up most of its head, a red gem on its forehead, and it its eyes were closed tight for some reason. 

The telekinetic hold it had on her gently lowered her to the floor before disappearing completely. The pokemon flew down into the aisle, turned its head towards her, then zipped away into a different aisle. It must have wanted her to follow along. 

Ikane scrambled to her feet and scurried through the library, only catching brief glimpses of the creature's twin tails before it rounded each corner. It seemed like she had to weave through half the building before the creature finally came to a stop. It turned to her with its eyes still shut, gesturing to come a little closer. 

' _You should be more careful on ladders. A single fall from a height like that can cause all sorts of permanent damage, and sometimes even kill you.'_

Much to her shock, the pokemon spoke directly into her head, right behind her ears. She had only heard firsthand accounts of telepathy before, but the real thing felt much more uncomfortable. It was definitely a psychic type, whatever it was. 

"You didn't have me follow you all the way to the other side of the library just to say that, did you?" Ikane whispered back. 

It shook its head. ' _Why were you spying on that woman?'_

"Because she's totally weird? Why else?" After a few seconds of silence, it became clear that that answer wasn't going to be enough. Ikane was already speaking with a strange psychic type, there probably wasn't much use in hiding anything. "I heard on the news yesterday that it was a white-suited woman who summoned a monster in the middle of a park. The thing is, I was here yesterday at around the same time, and so was the lady that's doing research now. They're different people, but definitely connected somehow. I'm trying to figure out how before there's any more attacks." 

' _Isn't that dangerous? You could get hurt if another one of those creatures appears.'_

"So? That doesn't really scare me that much. Besides, you were spying on her, too." Ikane leaned in a little closer to the pokemon. There was something very familiar about it that she just couldn't put her finger on. There were hardly any pokemon on earth that could just straight-up communicate with humans on an intelligent level, let alone actively spy and plot against someone. So very familiar, like it was clearly in a book she had read at some point... 

"Wait. Are...are you one of the three lake guardians?" 

Though the fairy didn't have much expression without its eyes, she could still tell when it was a little surprised. "I am Uxie, guardian of Lake Acuity, and embodiment of knowledge," it murmured using its real voice. 

"Oh." Ikane had basically just been shooting in the dark, scrambling for the little fragments of mythology she remembered from assignments in the past. To think that one of those legends was true, and floating right in front of her in flesh and blood--it was a little hard to believe, to be honest. "This city isn't exactly close by to Lake Acuity. If you really are a lake guardian, and you've made that entire journey for just a single person, then...just what is that woman?" 

Again, Uxie shook his head. "I don't know. None of us do. All that I can say is that they aren't truly from this world, and that they carry a dangerous ambition. I feel that, if left unchecked, these aliens could bring a great deal of destruction to our world." 

"Aliens? Like, from outer space?" Ikane leaned in even closer. 

"Perhaps. Certainly not from earth. Or maybe this specific earth." Uxie lifted his tails and stirred the air. He looked away, seemingly trying to sense for something. "You should leave this place. There's no telling what might happen if you stay. This morning could be your last if things escalate." 

She brushed her hair away from her eyes. "I already told you, I'm not afraid of getting hurt! If people got demotivated just because things were dangerous, we'd still be living in huts and throwing spears at Tauros herds. Anyway, you probably know more about what she's trying to research than I do. What's going on there?" 

It was for just a second, but Ikane caught the briefest glimpse of a smile on Uxie's face. He cleared his tiny throat and spoke up. "Fine. If you're not willing to forget this ever happened, then I guess I have to catch you up to speed. My sister will be arriving any minute now, along with another confidant like you that she accidentally created yesterday. We'll discuss this more once they arrive." 

 

  


_____

 

Uzume pushed on through the front doors of the library and was immediately pleased with the air-conditioned building. She took in a deep breath of the cool air and strolled further inside, more than happy to leave the heat behind. There was a pang of nervousness in her gut once she got used to the temperature. It wasn’t from the monster that could possibly emerge at any moment, but from the guilty feeling involved with walking into a place like this without actually intending to read anything. 

There was a slight tug on her shirt. ' _This way,'_ Mesprit said telepathically, pulling Uzume deeper into the building. It was still hard to believe that Mesprit could just become completely invisible whenever she wanted. Seriously, that's like the most abusable power anybody could ever have. 

After being lead to the spot that Uxie was supposedly at, all that she saw was a girl sitting alone at a table, one hand sifting through her short blonde hair and the other drumming on the cover of a closed book. Uzume just stood there for a moment, looking at the shelves as if there was something more she should be seeing. Mesprit eventually uncloaked herself above the blonde girl, and a second fairy followed suit shortly after. The resemblance was obvious, but this new fairy were all yellow instead of pink, and their eyes were shut tight. 

"Ikane, they're here," Uxie whispered to the girl at the table. 

The person apparently named Ikane adjusted her glasses and glanced up. "You must be Uzume. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said flatly. The way she spoke made the meeting sound more like a business deal. 

Uzume waved back. "Uhh, hi? Um. So I don't mean to be rude about it but, like, who are you? Mesprit didn't tell me there was going to be someone else involved. I thought I was the only one who knew." 

Uxie answered in her place. "As it turns out, Ikane and I have both been spying on the same person this whole time, so I figure it would be best if we worked together to gather as much information as possible before this opportunity is through. I trust her on the grounds that it would be mutually beneficial to uncover what these white-suited people are after." 

"Haha!" Mesprit nearly burst out laughing. She covered her mouth before making too much commotion, but continued to giggle afterwards. Everyone looked to her for an explanation. "Sorry, sorry! It's just that Uxie makes it completely obvious whenever he's getting ready to pick a guardian for himself. Every single time it's something about their cause being 'mutually beneficial' or whatever. It's hilarious!" 

"Choose a guardian?" Ikane asked. 

"N-nevermind that," Uxie quickly stuttered out, a slight blush across his face. "Anyway! I've gathered us here today because of a potentially dangerous individual who requires further investigation. They're obviously looking for something, as they've been studying at this library for the last two days. Whatever that something is may be imperative to the reason these otherworldly beings have arrived here in Sinnoh." 

Ikane cleared her throat. "Okay. So far, we know she's been looking at mostly books on mythology and creationism. This included an archaeological study on the Spear Pillar, several books on religion in both Alola and Sinnoh, accounts of legendary pokemon and their general symbolism, and surprisingly one or two books on astronomy. I can't say for certain what she studied yesterday, however. I didn't care at the time, and library records show that she didn't check anything out at all." 

"You have access to the library records?" Uzume tilted her head. 

With a flick of her wrist, Ikane whipped a card out of her pocket. The laminated piece of plastic was exceptionally cared for, shining almost as if it had been polished recently. There was golden-foil writing amidst the normal black ink. "This is my library. I intern here during school breaks and regularly come at least five days out of the week. I know all of the librarians and a majority of the officials who personally fund this place. I can get records if I need them." 

Uzume was speechless, but confused all the same. How someone could be such a massive, unrelenting nerd was beyond her understanding. Who would go to a library during summer break for FUN? 

"Hm. Seems like this alien lady’s been reading about us, huh?" Mesprit chuckled, bringing the conversation back around. 

"Isn't it fitting, though?" Uxie placed a finger on his lips. "What's the first thing these people from another world do when they come to ours? They try to learn about our gods. Perhaps it's for purely scientific reasons--though if that were the case, I can't imagine why one of them would summon a rampaging beast so willingly. Maybe they're here to capture or fight some sort of legendary pokemon from our world?" 

Uzume stretched her arms above her head. "Pfft. Yeah, them and every other ten year old running around with their new Chimchar. If she's got books on creation and junk like that, then she might really be trying to actually learn where those legends fit in. It's probably not poaching for the sake of poaching, anyways." 

"They may have a certain task in mind, one that they don't think an ordinary pokemon would be able to accomplish." Ikane suggested, then shrugged. "Then there's the astronomy books, which makes it seem like they're trying to create a planet or something. We don't have nearly enough information to form any reasonable conclusions." 

"Then why don't we just go ask her what she's doing?" Uzume suggested. 

There was a visible twitch in Ikane's neck. "What? Why would we go and do that? If we made that woman any bit suspicious of us, she might just get up and leave. We could end up missing something critical because we didn't wait long enough!" 

"Or," Uzume began again. "you could treat her like a person and talk to her? I mean, if that Graci lady yesterday was any example, these guys really don't seem like elite soldiers or super-scientists. They just seem...odd. Can you really expect someone from a different world to act normal, though?" 

"Ugh, that is the most Scarlet Verity thing I have heard in dozens of years," Uxie sighed, rubbing his temples. "Okay. You might have a point, even if it's a risky one. There isn't actually anything stopping us from going up and talking to her. If you did manage to find anything out, I probably wouldn't be too surprised." 

Mesprit gave a wide grin. "That's the ticket! And if this chick turns out to be as nasty as Graci was, well...I guess we could beat her up or something, I dunno. We're supposed to be protecting humanity, right? Like we're not exactly forced to be nice here. We're kinda like the police, except for the whole earth. Earth police." 

"Graci? Who’s..." Ikane repeated with a frown. Her fingers impatiently drummed on the back of her book. "No, we're not going to just beat them up in the middle of the library! If we're going through with your plan, there's not going to be any violence or earth-policing involved! Were you seriously thinking on fighting a grown woman? You're like, a grade below me!" 

"Well Mesprit and I could-" Uzume was immediately cut off. 

"It's a long explanation," interjected Uxie. "But there will be no violence, I'm sure. Whatever information this person needs, it would be much more difficult to find if they tried to fight with us in the middle of looking for it." 

After Ikane had finally ran out of reasons to object, they all settled on the plan. Uxie and Mesprit both vanished once more as the two girls started making their way to the other side of the library. It was very quiet, like a library should be, but Uzume couldn't shake the feeling that the silence was somehow unnatural. There was only a small handful of people here today, and nearly everyone was blissfully unaware of the alien that was sitting among them. 

The white-suited woman sat alone at the edge of a group of tables, turning pages with one hand and jotting down notes with the other. She was notably shapely for someone stuck in a jumpsuit, and the purple hair that fell out the back of her helmet was glossy and perfect. 

Uzume resisted the urge to chuckle. All this worry over someone doing a bunch of homework. What was the big deal? Graci couldn't even walk in a straight line down a sidewalk. 

"Hiya!" Uzume immediately said. Ikane cringed away as she walked right up next to the woman without a second thought. "Whatcha lookin for?" 

The woman jumped in place, suddenly ripped away from hours of intense concentration. The shock on her face quickly became irritation as soon as she looked up from her papers. "Can I help you?" 

"I dunno. You looked like you were doing something interesting. What's with all the books?" Uzume took a seat on the other end of the table and smiled. Meanwhile, Ikane shied further and further away until she was peering out from behind a bookshelf. 

The woman frowned as hard as she could. "I'm doing research." 

"What're ya researching?" 

"None of your business." 

Yeah, that was about what Uzume expected. "Aw come on. It'll probably help you think if you explain it out loud. I'm sure it's way more interesting than what I've read in the last while." 

Surprisingly enough, the suited woman paused to take off her helmet, allowing the rest of her violet hair to bounce past her shoulders. Her face was eerily beautiful, though the whole blue-skin thing was a little off-putting. Uzume finally saw the sharp glare from behind that visor and shrunk away in her seat. 

"Don't try to play coy with me. What do you actually want?" 

Welp, that was basically the end of the whole plan. Uzume stuttered out whatever came to her first,. "Umm. Well, you see..." 

"Alright, fine!" Ikane said, stepping out from behind her cover. Uzume let out a tiny sigh of relief. "I don't know why you're here or what you're trying to accomplish, but I do know for a fact that you're involved with the monster attack that happened yesterday!" 

The woman looked puzzled for a moment. "The attack? What...Oh, you mean Graci's stupid bumbling around. Yeah, I know the person that caused that. No, I was not involved in causing that. And no, I don't plan on summoning an ultra beast and having it happen again. Now is that all? I have a lot of work to do, and I'd like to keep the number of nosy brats to a minimum." 

"You're an alien," Ikane replied. It wasn't said so much like an insult as it was an accusation. "You and whoever else aren't from here. I'm absolutely certain that there's an incredibly important reason why you've come all this way just to sit in a library and read, and that's what I intend to figure out." 

At first, all was quiet. The woman stared at Ikane for a few moments, then turned her eyes to Uzume. A smirk worked its way onto her face, which soon evolved into outright snickering. "Oh my goodness, what do we have here? I thought Graci was trying to save face when she made up that story about the girl who had it out for her. Looks like she may have been telling the truth all along. Whatever, she deserves her punishment anyway." 

Naturally, Ikane shot a glance towards the only possible suspect. "Uzume, what is she talking about?" 

Before Uzume could answer, the suited woman cut back in. "Ah. so Uzume's your name, then. Well? What are you waiting for? Go on, then. Start flying around and glowing and shooting magic spells like I was told you could do. It'll be a nice break from all this horrid paperwork." 

"Wha- I- No! I'm...not going to do that!" 

"Aww. Why not?" The woman leaned forward, daintily resting her cheek on the back of her hand. "Is it because you can't? Or are you just being modest about it? A raging Blacephalon might take a trained group of twenty recon agents to take down, but I'm sure you managed to get by just fine by tossing little glow sticks at it!" 

Uzume huffed. There were probably a hundred words on the tip of her tongue, but none of them seemed clever enough to actually retort with. Instead of saying anything, she just sat there with her tongue in her cheek, glaring daggers at the chuckling woman while everyone was watching. At this point, she would have much rather been dealingwith the other alien woman. At least Graci's brand of craziness was a little easier to fight back with. 

Ikane stepped up to the side of the table and placed a hand on top of the stack of mythology books. At first glance she just looked mildly annoyed, but the longer Uzume processed her expression the more sinister it became. 

"Stop." 

The alien woman trailed on for a few more seconds. "Ah, you're right. I really need to get back to work. Why don't you two run along now so-" 

"No," Ikane said. She looked up towards the ceiling, her eyes practically aflame. There was a vague feeling that she was somehow glaring straight at Mesprit and Uxie. "You know what I hate the most? I hate it when people carry on talking about a topic, expecting me to know exactly what they're talking about without explaining anything. So, how about instead of that, we hold an actual conversation? First off, I'd like to know your name, alien." 

"Oh." the suited woman snarled. She cleared her throat and sat upright in an attempt to regain her prim-and-proper outward appearance. "You're one of those types, aren't you? I AM a human, by the way. There's no need to go slinging slurs just because there's no light from where I'm from. My name is Ottelia. There, you happy with that? Now let me get back to my work." 

"More than that," Ikane pulled at the book at the top of the stack and paged through it. "Secondly, why are you here? What are you planning on doing with all this information? If it was just for research and learning, I don't think you'd be as defensive about it as you are now." 

"You really think you're in any position to interrogate me?" With one swift motion, Ottelia gathered up her papers and slid them into a black binder. Every attempt to move gracefully seemed forced. It reminded Uzume of when she was a child, always sticking her pinkie out whenever she took a drink because it was supposed to be fancy. 

"I think I am," Ikane replied. 

"And what gave you that idea?" 

Though Ikane acted perfectly calm, the intensity in the air was nearly suffocating. "If you try to ignore us or leave, I'm going to call the police. There were plenty of reports saying a woman in a white suit was responsible for the attack yesterday. You're already suspicious enough that you'd probably get taken in for questioning at the very least. And I don't think you have a real alibi, do you?" 

That had struck more than just a nerve. Ottelia stood straight up from her chair, a wild look in her eyes that couldn't be suppressed by a pretty face. She glanced around the reading area, looked down at her helmet, then to the stack of books, then back up at the girl who had her cornered. Muttering a swear beneath her breath, she reached around the back of her belt and grabbed hold of something. 

"Well don't you feel clever, little girl?" Ottelia muttered, her voice starting to shake. "You think I'm frightened by an empty threat like that? What could your city's police possibly do to stop me? They wouldn't even be able to catch me!" 

"Care to find out?" Ikane finally smiled. 

"I hate you." 

Everything afterwards happened in the matter of seconds. Ottelia held up something small and shiny. Uzume jumped out of her seat in the same instant that Mesprit and Uxie materialized above the table, but it was already too late. The device had begun to glow and whine, and a bar of blinding light emerged from its tip. Ottelia immediately stabbed the blade into thin air and pulled down with all her might, the universe twisting and bending in every direction at once. All of the confidence on Ikane's face drained away. 

There was a hollow ripping sound, a bright flash, and a huge blast of wind that knocked away everything. A blue crack in space shimmered above the splintered remains of the table. Flickering motions appeared in the vast emptiness beyond its folds. The ultra beast was coming. Looks like they were going to use Plan B after all. 

"Mesprit, now!" Uzume shouted upwards, spreading her arms towards the ceiling and bracing herself. The fairy twirled through the air and disappeared straight into her chest. A familiar tingling feeling spread outwards from her heart as her feet left the ground. The changes started from her head, traveled down to her torso and arms, spiraled down her legs and then left out of the tips of her toes. Her new tails twitched with energy as she took on a fighting stance in the air. 

 

"Vessel of Emotion, Scarlet Verity!"

 

Ottelia took a step back and sneered. "I don't care if Graci was telling the truth about you! Fly around all you want, you little gremlin! I'm not going to throw away my chance at impressing Solisano! Ultra beast, come out and do my bidding!" 

The movements behind the portal grew more intense and defined as time passed. After just a moment more, the monster burst out of the blue light and touched down on the remains of the wooden table. It was a disturbingly slender creature--even skinnier than the Blacephalon that came before it. White and ghostly, the insect-like beast rose to a stand, its huge antennae nearly touching the ground even at full length. 

The creature glanced down at the mess it was standing in and jumped away so quickly that it almost looked like it had instantly teleported ten feet away. Her eyes could still scarcely believe how quickly it moved, even in this enhanced body. There was something profoundly stunning about the creature, but Uzume had trouble telling what it was through the insane amounts of creepiness. 

"Pheromosa!" Ottellia shouted at the top of her lungs, the smoking portal device still in her hand. "Get rid of these pests! If they even think about stopping me, show them what happens to kids who know too much!" 

The creature didn't even twitch at the command. It stayed completely frozen, staring at Scarlet Verity with such intensity that it felt difficult to even breath. 

"Ikane!" Uzume turned to the girl, who stood there aghast in the blue light. "Come on, you have to get out of here!" 

The hair on the back of Uzume's neck pricked up. She whipped around and crossed her arms in front of her face, barely blocking a quick blow that would have crashed down onto the back of the head. The Pheromosa leapt backwards and immediately began to brush at its forearm. She returned fire with a bolt of light from the palm of her hand, but the creature barely flinched as it effortlessly dodged the attack and went right back to cleaning itself. What kind of hellish dimension did this thing even come from? 

"We-we need to go!" Ikane suddenly shouted before taking off down the corridor. The creature chased her in a flash of motion, but was stopped by by a huge yellow barrier that materialized in its way. 

Uxie took off towards the ceiling. "Try to distract it for as long as possible!" 

' _Easy for you to say!'_ Mesprit shot back telepathically. 

Much less easy to actually do. Physically stopping the thing was next to impossible. Uzume flew down past the beast, firing off as many blasts as she knew how, but her projectiles only ever hit the back wall. Though the Pheromosa's emotions were neutral a majority of the time, there were spikes of feeling whenever it rushed in to attack. The creature always immediately pulled back and began to clean itself, too. Was it disgust? Did it really feel disgust at having to touch her to strike back? That's just insulting, really. 

The Pheromosa grew tired of the aimless dance, jumping up onto the bookcases to bypass the barrier entirely. Just as soon as its feet touched the top. it made a horrible screeching sound and backflipped back down. Genuine fury filled the subtle aura that surrounded it. Uzume flew forward to land a punch while it was distracted, but the creature dodged away and jumped straight over Uxie’s psychic wall. 

 

  


_____

 

Ikane ran as fast as she could, but it just felt like she was going in circles. She heard the insect creature's screech echo throughout the library, bouncing through the aisles and flooding her ears. What part of the library was this? She couldn't even recognize where she was anymore. Every time she blinked, she saw the burned impression of the blinding light that Uzume was cloaked in when she had changed into somebody else. Everything felt like a dream, yet here Ikane was, heart pounding so hard that she could feel her veins pulse in her temples. Was this the literature section? Wasn't that even farther away from the exit? 

"Wait!" Uxie called down from above her. She finally stopped, clutching at her chest like it was the only thing that was keeping her from exploding. "Wait, Ikane! Stick closer to me! If you go off running on your own, I can't protect you from it!" 

"What do we do? What can we do?" Ikane muttered. She shakily adjusted her glasses.The creature was twitchy and fast, but it didn't seem very aggressive in general. The exit was a good fifteen second sprint away, probably. All she had to do was make it out and- 

There was a rapid tapping. The creature rounded the corner, its footsteps so quick and light that there was barely any warning at all. Ikane fell backwards. Uxie flew down in front of her and raised his arms. Before the Pheromosa could even make it to the end of the aisle, a pink blur collided with the beast and tackled it into a bookcase. There was a cacophony of sound, shelves breaking and books falling and pages flying. Once the crash quieted down, the creature rose from the dust cloud and dashed fifteen feet away to viciously clean itself. 

The transformed Uzume emerged from the mess. "Ha! Take that, you cockroach-thing!" 

The Pheromosa rushed at her, causing Uzume to fly backwards reflexively, but something caused it to stop in its tracks. The creature made a jerky movement over its antennae and ran off, disappearing into the rest of the library in the blink of an eye. They had a moment to breathe. Ikane scrambled to her feet. Uzume muttered a curse and flew off after the ultra beast. Uxie rose up a few feet, but stayed protectively above Ikane’s head. Why didn't it keep charging earlier? What made it afraid? 

Just then, the creature came rearing around the corner behind her. If Uxie hadn't conjured another barrier to span the entire aisle, the Pheromosa would have just killed her on the spot. Instead, the creature glared at the obstacle and ran off in the opposite direction, despite the fact that the barrier wasn't as tall as it was wide. Why didn't it just jump up onto the bookcases and run across them instead of being constricted to a tight maze? Even she could climb up on top if she wanted. Ikane swatted at the dust cloud that surrounded her, biting her tongue in thought. Was it something with the psychic barrier, or...or the way it’s been dodging all the messes Uzume was making? Oh! 

"I know how to fight it!" Ikane shouted, her face brightening up like the sun. "Uzume! Come quick! We can fight it!" 

"Busy!" Uzume shouted in return, quickly followed by the distant sound of light bolts missing their mark. There was a second loud crash, but Pheromosa likely wasn't a part of it. 

There was still one person who would listen. 

"What is it?" Uxie said, still tense and alert. 

Ikane took a moment to catch her breath. "It's the dust! That thing acts like a germaphobe, not wanting to touch anything it doesn’t have to. When that bookshelf fell, all the dust that had gathered on top blew up into a big cloud, preventing it from running at us. That’s why it refuses to run on top of the bookshelves to get around, too. If we can exploit that weakness, we might be able to distract it enough to land some good hits. There's plenty of dust to go around." 

Uxie hummed affirmatively. There was more yelling from across the library as Uzume flew this way and that, unable to keep up with the sheer speed of the beast as it dashed through the aisles. This was a battle of attrition, and they were losing. 

"Hey, Ikane," Uxie finally spoke up. "What do you think about all this? I mean, about the Scarlet Guardians, and about these invaders from another world." 

What did she think? That was a hard question, especially in a time like this. Still, it was hard not to feel strongly about it. "I suppose it's...exciting. Amazing. Scary, but...I can tell there's so much more to this than meets the eye. It actually makes me feel annoyed, to be honest. All this drama and I still barely have any idea what's going on..." 

"I have another question. It's very important, so don’t worry about everything else for a moment." Despite the danger in letting his guard down, Uxie descended to meet Ikane at eye level. Though the fairy's eyes were closed, she still had the vague feeling that she could look past them, and it was like looking into an entire ocean of history and wisdom. This was the embodiment of knowledge--a legendary pokemon said to have been around since the dawn of time. With everything she's already seen today, what use was there in doubting it? 

"What is it, then?" she replied. 

The whole building went quiet. "Do you want to know more?" 

This time, the answer was clear. 

"I do." 

Uxie flew forward and passed through her like a ghost. The effect was immediate and intense, like an electric jolt rushing through her entire body. A golden light enveloped her just like it did when Mesprit had entered Uzume, though it was one thing to witness and another thing entirely to experience firsthand. She became weightless, her feet lifting off the ground. Part by part, a wave of heat washed from the top of her head all the way down to her feet, changing not only the clothes on her back and her very physiology. There was something that very much needed to be said, but it was Uxie who spoke with her lips. 

 

"From sea to stars, we build our minds,

With wisdom and wonder, we extend our hand, 

And with care we forge the chain that binds!

Never stop until you understand!

Vessel of Knowledge, Scarlet Acquity!

 

Once the transformation was complete, Ikane opened her eyes. It felt like a cloud had just been lifted from over her mind. Everything was sharpened, every sense made so acute that she could almost ‘see’ in all directions. And there was so much to notice that she couldn’t have possibly perceived before! Every sound that made up the soft noise of eternity, every individual smell that wafted over from all directions, and even the smallest textures that were normally invisible to the naked eye. She was so totally aware that it was ironically hard to notice that her glasses were gone, disappeared beneath the visage of the person she had become. 

In fact, Ikane was so aware that she could tell the Pheromosa was coming seconds before it happened. 

Scarlet Acquity twisted around mid-air. The creature whipped around the corner and rushed forward, but it seemed to move a little slower now. Or maybe her reaction time had improved. 

With both hands extended out in front of her, Ikane quickly conjured a conical barrier that wrapped over the top of the beast. It landed a flurry of blows against the shield before it sped off. The attack barely left a mark in the solid light, but she felt her arms buckle slightly from the force. Good, good! Now she was getting an idea of where the limits with these powers are! 

' _Don't forget the plan, Ikane,'_ Uxie whispered from inside of her own head. 

From a different place within her skull, Mesprit's voice rang out. ' _Oh? Uuuxie, you finally picked her! Took you long enough, you stupid idiot! I swear, if we had to fly around for any longer I was just gonna let this thing outside!'_

' _What's this about a plan?'_ Uzume spoke up next. ' _Yes please, come up with one of those. I'm so done with this stupid bug.'_

Once Ikane got used to speaking through her thoughts, she explained what she had learned about the Pheromosa and even came up with some of the finer details in the middle of her speech. Admittedly, she didn’t know how to put the beast back through the portal, but maybe that would come later. Uxie said not to worry about it yet, anyway. 

Uzume and ikane both flew up towards the ceiling. The creature moved like a white blur through the library, but as soon as it saw the two of them floating in the air, it stopped and stared right back. Nobody moved an inch for a few moments. The Pheromosa eventually grew tired of waiting, yanked an encyclopedia off a nearby shelf, and threw it as hard as it could. Ikane barely had to raise her wrist to block the projectile, and Uzume was already on the chase by the time the book fell to the ground. 

The first part of the plan was to lure the creature into a corner and trap it. The chase started out in the same futile way it always did, but this time Ikane was able to fly ahead and set up dead-ends with her barriers, effectively corralling the Pheromosa into one half of the library, and then to only a quarter. Scarlet Verity was on the offensive all the while, not letting up for even a second. Whenever the creature did turn to retaliate, Ikane only had to whip up a cloud of dust from the upper shelves to dissuade it. 

Soon there were no escape routes left at all. Part two of the plan started with Ikane on the ground, putting herself in harm's way on purpose. With nowhere left to run, the Pheromosa did the only thing it could do: fight. Ikane had never been in an actual fight before, but with Uxie's subtle help and this body's muscle memory, she was able to block and parry with relative ease. For as fast as the creature was, it didn't pack enough of a punch to pierce her defenses, and even when a stray kick did hit its mark, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as the force of the impact suggested. 

With each step backwards she took, the beast took one forwards. Inch by inch, foot by foot, all the way until Ikane was the one who was cornered. She held up her guard for as long as she could, but the creature was getting desperate. It wouldn't be too much longer, now. Everything was falling into place. Just a few more seconds and... 

Scarlet Acuity threw her arms to the side and stuck her chest out, ready to take the next blow head-on. The Pheromosa bit down on her bait and performed a standing kick with all its might. She caught it in the stomach and doubled right over, the wall behind her cracking and crumbling under the stress. Her senses were buried beneath a flood of pain and her lungs were expunged of all air, but it was fine. Ikane grappled onto the chitinous leg that pinned her and held on with all her might. 

"Now!" 

The creature whipped around towards Uzume just in time to get a face-full of dust. Its reaction was almost instant, and was exactly as explosive as expected. A grating screech filled the air as it tried to scurry off into the rest of the library, but was stopped in place by a barrier of yellow light. It quickly gave up running and started to viciously clean itself. One bolt of pink grazed its antenna, and another hit squarely in the creature's abdomen. It tried flanking around a table, but Uzume threw out another handful of dust and made an impassable cloud. It couldn't go backwards, it couldn't go forwards--it couldn't even strike back anymore. All it could do was screech and clean, over and over, non-stop. 

' _It's done for,'_ Uxie said. ' _Let's send it back home before we run out of time.'_

Uzume brushed off her hands, desperately trying not to cough from her own dust cloud. "But how? If I calmed it down, it wouldn't want to go home at all. It’d probably just start attacking again." 

"No, don't worry. It's fine," Ikane answered, taking a few steps towards the mad beast. The Pheromosa glared at her with baneful eyes in between fits of cleaning. She would have maybe even felt pity for it--if not for the horrible ache in her abdominals. Still, Uxie had a duty to fulfill, and she was only borrowing this power. It would be rude to do anything less than what she needed to do. 

"You might want to look away for a few seconds." 

Ikane closed her eyes, and Uxie opened his. The ultra beast completely froze up, almost like it had been suspended in time. She hardly understood the full extent of the powers that Uxie evoked in that moment, but she could perceived a fraction of it. Visions from the perspective of the creature passed before her--the memories of the last few minutes, it looked like. She watched as each memory was individually erased, disappearing into nothingness as if they were falling beneath the waves of a deep ocean. 

As soon as Uxie was finished up, she closed her eyes and acknowledged the words bubbled up from the bottom of her throat. "Creature from beyond this world, your time here is done. Return from whence you came and forget all of this like a passing dream. Forget, forget..." 

The Pheromosa went rigid, then took off down the hall in a blur of speed. For just one moment, Ikane doubted that it would listen to the fairy's words, but a loud popping sound from across the library gave her the reassurance that it was finally over. They had really done it, didn't they? They combined powers with the lake guardians and became heroes...Hm. 

Back at the place where the beast was summoned, Ottelia was still gathering up the papers that the portal had blown everywhere. It hadn't even been ten minutes since they saw her last and she already looked ten years older. Without her cool and collected outward appearance, her entire persona was shattered. When she looked up and saw the two girls, the ugly scowl on her face somehow deepened even further. 

"The portal is gone. My research has been scattered beneath a mountain of broken wood. My hair is an absolute mess. You have completely ruined my day, and probably the next few days after this. Leave. Me. Alone." 

Scarlet Verity crossed her arms. "Are you ready to start talking yet? I mean, it's all you needed to do in the first place. All of this could have been prevented if you had just played along." 

Ottelia just spat in her direction. "I'm leaving. I don't care what you do anymore." She gathered up her helmet, an armful of books, and the messy remains of her black binder. Without so much as a hint of hesitation, the woman plowed right past the Guardians and sped towards the exit. 

As much as Ikane would have liked to give a final chase, icy exhaustion welled up inside of her chest and brought her to her knees. There was an all-encompassing flash of light, then Uxie was sprawled out on the ground before her. Uzume separated from Mesprit a little more gracefully, the both of them still upright after the pink glow faded, though they still seemed quite sick. 

Everything was much blurrier and unfocused without Uxie inside of her. Ikane adjusted her glasses, glanced around at all the destruction they had caused, and sighed heavily. "My library...Why did it have to be my library? This is a disaster..." 

"We should probably get out of here," Uzume suggested, dusting off her clothes. "I don't want to answer any questions when someone actually trained in dealing with this stuff shows up. I'm sure at least one of the, like, four people that were in here went for help." 

"Yes," Uxie said, finally picking himself up off the ground. "There is much to discuss, and I'm sure you're eager to hear the whole story, so-." 

"We'll do it tomorrow." Ikane interrupted, tucking her astronomy book beneath her arm and brushing the hair out of her face. "Meet me in front of the fountain on the west side of town at ten o'clock. Don’t be late." 

"H-hey!" Uzume shouted. "Come on, we just fought a creepy bug together! Isn't that the kind of bonding experience that sparks true friendship? Do you not even want to hang out at all?" 

Ikane had already started towards the exit by the time Uzume was done talking. "This is serious now. It's more than just my favorite library at stake. It could be thousands of innocent lives, or worse. I need time to process everything so that I’m not distracted when it matters." 

Before she was out of earshot, Mesprit's snickering carried over the distance. "Don't worry! She's just hiding how she feels. Uxie always ends up picking guardians who do that. It’s kind of a problem sometimes." 

"Psh. Stupid psychic types," Ikane muttered to herself. With that, she was gone. 

 

  


_____

 

This time, Solisano didn't have to say anything. He merely held out his hand towards Ottelia, who reluctantly pulled out the portal device and placed it in his palm as she stared at the ground. There was a long, excruciating pause that followed, as there always seemed to be whenever someone was caught under the fluorescent spotlight. 

Solisano broke the silence with a sigh. "Seriously, guys? You know, Graci, normally I would apologize for having doubted you, but the fact still stands that you're all being absolutely thwarted by a bunch of children, so I think I'll keep making fun of you." 

"As funny as it may seem, I'm not making any jokes here." Ottelia looked up from the ground, meeting her leader's eyes. "They seemed to only be a minor annoyance at first, but one threatened to bring the city’s authorities down on me if I didn't give them any information. Now normally I wouldn’t have cared because I haven't done anything wrong, but because SOMEBODY had to go and cause a huge ruckus with a Blacephalon, I’d already be a suspect if I was caught." 

This time, Graci was the one who sneered from the shadows. "Hey, I may have overreacted, but at least I didn’t start panicking because of some playground threats. All anyone has to do is mention authorities to get you to wet yourself!" 

Ottelia shot back a glare and brought a thumb across her neck. "...Anyway, there is something more dangerous here than just a bunch of children. Right before I managed to summon the portal, I saw two small fairy-like creatures appear. One of them seemed to fly straight into the brown-haired girl, and they appeared to undergo some kind of... transformation. I don't believe it's parasitic like a Nihilego, but there is definitely a symbiosis that happens. It seems almost spiritual, actually." 

Solisano shook his head and began to pace. "Okay, great. Turns out there's a pokemon that can fly into humans and give them powers. Cool discovery, great stuff. I'll be sure to turn in the report to the Recon Squad after we get arrested.” He stomped down on the concrete. “Whatever! It doesn't matter at all. What matters is our mission, and the thing that's getting in our way are the little pipsqueaks who are trying to pick a fight with grown-ups. The fact that they’re borrowing power from pokemon is just the icing on the cake." 

"Well how're we going to run the brats off, then?" Graci asked. 

"Easy." Solisano raised his hand towards the hulking brute of a man in the corner, presenting the portal device palm-up. "We'll just get Cymon to deal with it." 

Ottelia gave a sharp gasp. "Wha- We're just going to kill them, then? Do you want the entire continent coming down on our heads?" 

Their leader shook his head. "Well, I mean, if it comes to that then maybe. I'm betting on the fact that nearly getting killed usually puts people off. If just the one ultra beast doesn't make them feel threatened enough, we'll just have to make sure we get our point across as adults, right?" 

Without a flicker of emotion on his face, Cymon stomped forward and took the device. "Understood. I will try not to use excessive force, but if I'm pressed then there's nothing that can be done. If they already have the power to defeat ultra beasts on their own, then it may come to that." 

"Then that's the burden we gotta bear," Solisano said, shrugging. The harsh white light shined down on his face, casting deep shadows on his young features. "I'm not saying we should run around killing kids and burning villages, but there's a message we gotta send to anyone getting in our way. What we do is for the good of our people. If everyone kept following the rules and playing nice, then we were never going to get anywhere. How many more generations do we have to live in darkness before somebody steps up to fix what has been broken?" 

Cymon pocketed the portal device and went straightened his posture. "None more, sir." 

"That's right, because we're not going to let anything get in our way. Before this is all over, we'll have our light again."


	3. A Trial By Fire! Scarlet Valor!

The Veilstone Gym was packed. Everyone who regularly trained here had all piled into the central room, and it really did seem like everyone. A few were wearing their dojo uniforms, others came with whatever clothes were already on their backs. The emergency meeting was hastily arranged just this morning, so it’s not like they had much of a choice. There was only one thing it could possibly be about, too. You couldn't walk for more than five minutes without hearing about it. 

Karao had to push through the crowd just to have a good view of the front of the dojo. She hated being surrounded by adults, especially when most of them were supposed to be her equals. All it did was make her feel short and weak. A grimace on her face, she tugged back on her black ponytail and placed a hand on the pokeball that held her Mienfoo partner. It was only a matter of time, anyways. In a year or two, she'd be able to walk all over everyone here with no problem. There'd be no need to stand on her tiptoes just to look over someone's shoulder. She’d be the one standing in front of everyone instead. 

The crowd went silent as Maylene finally arrived, and a path through the sea of bodies quickly formed. Her students bowed their heads in respect as she passed. Karao wasn't even that much younger than her, but she had already been running this gym for a few years now. That's how far Karao was behind. 

Once Maylene stepped onto the elevated platform at the far end of the room, she turned around and sighed, holding a stack of papers against her chest. She began straight away. "You all know why we're here. It's been all over the news. There is a real threat in this city. “Just two days ago, a quarter mile of area downtown was dotted with scorch marks and destruction. The pokemon that caused the damage couldn't be identified at all, even after the fact. We didn't even know it was happening until a few minutes before the attack ended. Just yesterday, our library was totally wrecked from the inside. Again, the pokemon reported to have done it is a total mystery, and by the time we arrived it was already over. Nobody's been hurt yet so far, but we can't just expect that luck to last." 

Maylene crossed her arms and scanned the gym. "No more chances. From today onward, all training routines will have to be put on hold. We're all going to be placed on patrols to ensure that we have the highest chances possible to prevent any further damage. We're going to be working with the police to make sure we put a stop to whoever's behind these attacks." 

Karao let in a sharp gasp. This could be it! This could be the chance she was waiting for! It was finally an opportunity to prove herself that didn't involve those impossibly stuffy tournaments!.. Admittedly, she didn't like the sound of those weird unidentifiable monsters that kept popping up everywhere, but imagine how amazed everyone would be if she managed to take one down on her own! She'd be a hero! 

With the speech part of the meeting over, Maylene got around to doling out the tasks people would be occupied with in the coming days. Groups were made, routes were assigned, and times were set. Karao really didn't care much for this planning part. She tapped her foot against a mat, eagerly waiting for her name to be called so that she could finally see some action. 

Whole minutes started to pass. and still not even a slight mention of her name. Things really started to get sketchy when entire groups of people picked themselves up and left. This wasn't an alphabetical order thing, so maybe she was just being saved until last? More time passed, more people left. Karao started to bite her tongue, unable to stifle the annoyed grunts that came from her throat every time she was ignored. There wasn't more than a handful of people around by the time she got fed up with waiting. 

"Maylene!" Karao stormed up to the gym leader, who was busy with another boring pile of forms. "How could you forget about me? I've been standing here the whole time!" 

"You forgot to say 'Master', Karao. I'm 'Master' Maylene in here, remember? It's not fun but it's the rules, and we all gotta follow the rules," Maylene didn't look up from the paperwork, biting the end of her pen to work over a few lines of math. "I didn't forget about you. You're just not involved with the patrols." 

"What?! Why not?" 

The gym leader mulled over her numbers for a few seconds before responding. "Because you're still a rookie, and I don't think you're mature enough to be up to the task. Besides, I can't just leave my gym completely empty. There's still chores to do around here." 

"Chores?! What do you mean chores? You can't just keep me cooped up in here when there's real work I could be doing! What if I end up being the difference between life and death, huh? You'd really start to regret not sending me out then! Me and Tenni can handle one of those monsters, no problem! Come ooooon!" 

Maylene lowered the papers and sighed. She raised her hand and gave Karao a quick flick on the forehead. "We're not supposed to be handling the monsters. I'm using my students to give the police some extra eyes and arms until this whole thing sorts itself out. It's too dangerous to actually take these things on without any help, but since I'm sure you would've tried anyway if given the chance, that's why you're stuck here." 

"You can't- I wouldn't- Gah!" Fists clenched, Karao took off towards the exit, muttering her insults beneath her breath so that she couldn't be called out on them. Upon reaching the doorway, Karao turned and pointed a finger towards the gym leader. "You just don't want me to catch up and overthrow you! Well keep me down all you want, Maylene, but there's nothing in the world that's gonna stop me from becoming a master one day!" Karao sped down the hallway so that she wouldn't have to hear a response, but Maylene's words echoed through the building nonetheless. 

"It's 'Master' Maylene! Or at least just use a normal honorific for once!" 

Stupid, two-bit gym leader! She thinks she can just hold all of her opposition back until they all get tired and quit, huh? Some master she is! She barely even acts like a gym leader, anyway! It's all just a charade she keeps up to make sure nobody takes her seriously. That way, nobody really thinks of her as a threat. 

Karao burst through the front doors of the gym. She wasn't going to fall for a trick like that so easily! With one hand blocking the sun and the other on her belt, she withdrew her pokeball and released Tenni into the morning sun. The Mienfoo emerged with a yawn and stretched his arms above his head. 

"I'm angry. We're running," Karao immediately commanded. "Five blocks down, we'll loop around the game corner and come back here. After that's finished, I'll figure out a plan to hunt those monsters ourselves! We don't need anyone else's approval, they'll just weigh us down! Grrrah! Come on, let's go!" 

 

  


_____

 

Uzume stared down at her sketchpad in the same way that a parent would stare down at their child in sheer disappointment as they attempted to pick up the pieces of a broken vase. She bit at the end of her pencil for a few moments, then hurriedly erased a huge portion of the pumpkin was supposed to be Uxie's head. The curse that fell from her mouth was buried beneath the sound of running water from the fountain behind her. 

' _I mean, it wasn't THAT bad,'_ Mesprit muttered telepathically. ' _To be honest, his head really does look like that. I think if you held it up to him you wouldn't have noticed much of a difference.'_

' _My head does not look like that,'_ Uxie shot back. 

"His head will look like whatever I want it to look like or so help me I'm going to cut my own hand off and throw it into the fountain!" Uzume shouted with a frown. She started again, working at the contours with such light strokes that it was difficult to see in the bright sunlight. Still, at least she only messed up on the one part this time, even if it was technically a majority of the drawing. Just a few more attempts and maybe she'll be good enough to finish a drawing of the lake guardians on the first try. 

At some point in her concentration, Uzume felt someone walk up and sit down beside her. They spoke in a familiarly flat voice. "So you came, huh?" 

Uzume put the finishing touches on her drawing. "Yeah? Why wouldn't have I co-" She turned her head towards Ikane and was immediately silenced. The girl had made an attempt to be completely disguised, hiding her face behind a pair of big sunglasses and an oversized hat. The trenchcoat she was wearing went all the way down to her ankles and swallowed up her hands completely beneath its sleeves. "...'Kay so what's that all about?" 

"You weren't followed, were you?" 

"Of course I was. Uxie and Mesprit are somewhere around here." Uzume spun her finger in the vague direction she assumed the fairies were floating. "Seriously, you should probably take all that off. You're going to overheat in this weather." 

Ikane pulled the rim of her hat down. "No way! I don't know about you, but if I'm going to run around being a superhero, I'm going to protect my identity as best I can. Who knows the kind of trouble our friends and families could get into if anyone found out we had these powers? I'm not even the kind of person that reads those sort of stories and I know that!" 

Oh yeah, that was something they were supposed to be worrying about, huh? Uzume tapped her pencil to her chin. "But the villians that we wouldn't want knowing our identities already know our identities. Ottelia literally learned our names just yesterday." 

' _And if only a handful of civilians finds out your secret, I could easily erase their memories before they have a chance to cause any harm,'_ Uxie added quietly. 

With a sigh, Ikane took off all her headgear and wiped away at the hair that fell into her eyes. "Alright, fine. But I'll have you know I had to sneak into my dad's closet for all this stuff and I'm not happy to find out it was a waste of time." She folded up the trenchcoat and used it as a cushion to rest her arms on her lap. "So, we're all here. Yesterday a pokemon I thought was a complete myth flew into my chest and gave me magical powers for long enough to defeat an alien monster summoned by an alien person. I was promised a few explanations." 

' _Sure thing!'_ Mesprit chimed in. ' _Uxie, give her the rundown!'_

' _Oh sure, don't even try. I'll just do it every single time,'_ the fairy groaned before he cleared his throat, which really didn't seem all that necessary to broadcast telepathically. ' _Normally I would wait until all three guardians were gathered before giving this speech, but then again, I'm usually the one who finds my human last. It makes more sense when everything's in place, but Azelf's been so busy searching for the aliens' hideout that neither Mesprit or myself have seen him since coming here.'_

"So there's supposed to be three of us, one for each lake guardian..." Ikane thought out loud. "But what are we, exactly? What are you doing to us when we transform together? That's one of the main things I've been wondering since yesterday." 

' _To put it plainly, we're giving you our powers to amplify your own,'_ Uxie explained. ' _My siblings and I are each a part of all living, thinking creatures. The whole city, this whole planet, and quite a bit farther beyond. That means the two of you especially. You see, when a threat appears that we may not be able to take care of ourselves, there is a whole planet full of life forms that have the potential to resonate with our power. When we do find a suitable vessel, well...'_

"It makes a Scarlet Guardian," Uzume finished, staring off into the distance. "I can understand that much. You find someone that harmonizes with the kind of power you got and you amplify it through them--however that’s supposed to work with vague, weird concepts like knowledge itself. Or at least it's something like that. Apparently I was emotional enough for Mesprit to harmonize with, and Ikane was nerdy enough for Uxie." 

"Hey! Who are you calling a nerd?" Ikane growled. 

' _Pipe down! I already have to say this twice, I'm not interested in a third time,'_ the fairy said, waiting a moment for the both of them to quiet down before continuing. ' _Anyway, you're correct about all the important parts. The both of you are were tested and found fit to be Scarlet Guardians. What you become when you transform is a physical manifestation of the harmony between mankind and the concept we govern,'_

Mesprit projected a yawning noise into their heads. ' _Yeah, yeah. Basically we think you're cool so we give you superpowers to help us fight ugly stuff. That's pretty much the gist of it. Once Azelf finally shows up maybe we'll actually get a whole group together. Only having two guardians is pretty lame, you know? Been there, done that.'_

"Really? How long have you been making Scarlet Guardians?" Ikane asked, idly playing with the rim of the hat in her hands. 

Uxie mumbled. ' _A long, long time. Probably thousands of years. It's not actually that common of an occurrence, as you might guess. There's large spans of time where there was simply no need to enlist that kind of help. Just the same, there were times when the world needed guardians more than anything. Now, the time has come for you to take up this ancient responsibility.'_

There was a long silence. The fountain trickled on, filling the empty space with constant, gentle noise. Uzume stared at the white brickwork beneath her feet, trying her best to mentally face the dilemma she had been putting off for days now. She was a Scarlet Guardian, Not just a girl on her summer break, not just another mediocre artist, not even just another face in the city. The bringer of emotion itself had chosen her as its vessel to defend against a threat to the world. This was kind of a big deal. She clutched at her stomach in an attempt to ward off the nauseousness that had suddenly hit her. 

"Right, then," Ikane was the first to speak up. "Yeah, that's enough of an explanation to keep me satisfied. For now, at least. I just wanted to know what I was getting into, since this is probably a life-or-death kind of contract I ended up signing when I agreed to let Uxie fly into me." 

"I don't have to have my parents sign a permission slip for this, do I?" Uzume forced a smile. 

Ikane chuckled. Just the sound of her laughter almost immediately putting Uzume at ease again. "God I hope not. A few years ago I tried to get my dad to sign one of those for a field trip and he flipped out. I think it was to the Great Marsh or something because all I can remember is him talking about how dangerous it was to be around that many wild pokemon. If he knew what I was doing now...Eugh. I don't even wanna think about it." 

' _Sounds like he cares a lot about you,'_ Mesprit said. ' _You know, you don't have to be a Scarlet Guardian. If you think it's too dangerous then we can find someone else. There's no shame in it, really.'_

"Yeah, but wouldn't Uxie have to wipe my memories if I backed out now? The absolute last thing I would want is to have everything I've learned up to this point be taken away in an instant. Besides, danger's not so bad. I've always had trouble with going outside, so maybe this'll help me get out more." 

Even though Uzume was smiling, the uneasiness in her gut never really went away. Ugly thoughts popped up in her head, going in circles over and over. It was stupid to get so worked up over this when for the last two days she'd been absolutely fine. Yeah, it was apparently the biggest responsibility of her life. Yeah, it was also potentially life-threatening. Yeah, it was actually scary, but she could back out of being a Scarlet Guardian at any point, right? What if she wasn't up to the job? Couldn’t she just...stop? 

"Hey, what's that?" Ikane said right next to her ear. 

Uzume turned her head to see Ikane peering over her shoulder, then back down to see what was being peered at. With a gasp, Uzume pulled her sketchbook to her chest and leaned away. "Don't look at that!" 

"Wait! Hold on, just let me see it for a second! I promise I won't make fun of you or anything!" 

It was easy enough to keep the drawing hidden away, but Ikane was more than persistent. Uzume ended up scooching all the way to the other end of the fountain before she finally gave up. Muttering under her breath about pushy nerds, she held the book over her shoulder and let it to be snatched out of her hands. 

Ikane adjusted her glasses as she stared intensely at the drawing, seemingly paying way more attention to detail than Uzume was comfortable with. "This is actually...really nice. Were you drawing this while waiting for me to get here?" 

"Yeah. I usually just draw when I'm bored, it's nothing too special. I'm not even really that- Quit that!" Uzume lunged forward to try and stop Ikane from flipping through to older pages, but she anticipated the action and turned away, greedily absorbing every crappy drawing that hadn't already been torn out and thrown into the trash. 

"Hey, relax! You're actually good, you know!" Page after page, Ikane saw the remnants of Uzume's older projects. It was almost unbearable to watch, but she still couldn't find any reason to rush over and yank the sketchbook away. A vast majority were harmless to share, even if they were mostly failures. From perspective experiments, to subject sketches, and all the way down to hastily scribbled landscape doodles--things Uzume barely even remembered drawing kept showing up. It was all relatively tame until Ikane made it to the last page: a failed recreation of Sakuya’s portrait above her desk at home. 

With one swift motion, Uzume shot forward and took the sketchbook right back. "That's far enough right there!" 

"Huh." Ikane finally seemed satisfied, resting on her elbows once more. "That one looked special. Who was that picture of?" 

"Yeesh! And Ottelia thought I was supposed the nosy one!" Uzume flipped all the way back to the front page and held the book behind her crossed arms. "You don't get to walk off right after an ultra beast fight and then decide the next day that we're good enough friends to give out secrets! You gotta earn it! Or at least save my life once or twice. Still!" 

Ikane looked like she was about to say something, but was caught mid-breath by the sound of someone shouting. 

"Heeeey! You guys!" 

Running towards them was a familiar girl with a black ponytail and a navy blue sweatshirt. A Mienfoo trailed a short distance behind her, breathing heavily and dragging its feet. It was the jogger girl from Uzume's class, the one she couldn't remember the name of despite seeing almost every day. She bit her tongue in contemplation as the girl approached. 

"What's wrong?" Ikane replied and stood up. 

The Mienfoo took a seat on the ground as soon as its trainer stopped. The girl didn't even seen all that out of breath. "Have you guys seen any weird people in white jumpsuits around here? Or monsters? Or both, preferably?" 

Uzume shot straight up. "What?! Is there someone like that around here?!" 

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. That's why I was asking you! Duh, stupid! If I knew where either of those things were I definitely wouldn't be standing here just talking about them. I've got a reputation to build, you know!" 

"Why are you looking for the white-suited people? Haven't you seen what they did on the news? That's ridiculously stupid and dangerous." Ikane had a glint of intensity in her eyes. 

She gave another shrug and grinned. "The whole gym's out looking for them, actually. We're trying to can 'em before they destroy something else or hurt someone. So yeah, just in case that was something you were worrying about, don't worry about it anymore. Tenni and I have got this, right?" She turned to the Mienfoo, who was staring in the opposite direction. "Aren't I RIGHT, Tenni?!" 

Tenni looked confused for a moment, but eventually got the hint and pumped his arm in the air in agreement, a look of confidence plastered onto his face. 

"Dang it, Tenni! You're supposed to be ready for this stuff! Nobody's going to take us seriously if we're not on point with our appearances! What's the point in being the strongest if we don't act like it, huh?" The girl stuck her tongue out at the Mienfoo before putting her hands on her hips. "Well I guess if there's no monster or anything around here I just gotta keep looking. See you around, Uzume!" 

Oh crap. Uzume couldn't just let this girl run around until she gets exploded by an ultra beast. Her name was on the very tip of Uzume's tongue, but she had already started to jog away. Didn’t it start with a 'K'? Maybe it was just a similar sound. 

"Wait!" Uzume shouted, putting out a hand towards them as a poor substitute for just calling their name. "Why- uh. Why don't we search around for the monsters together? More eyes would cover more area, right? It'll be more efficient!" 

Ikane nodded, catching onto the plan. "There's strength in numbers, too. It would be less dangerous to travel in groups, even if you're the only one who's a trainer. We have no idea what these suspicious people are going to do once you actually find them." 

The girl contemplated it for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Aah...Sure. Alright. My one condition is that, when we finally do find one of the white-suits, you guys have to run off so that I get all the credit. Or maybe just stay on the sidelines so that you can vouch for me as my witness, basically so that I still get all the credit. My point is, I'm taking full advantage of this and nobody's gonna stop me." 

' _That's stupid,'_ Uxie muttered telepathically. 

"That's stupid," Ikane said out loud. 

The smile that the girl flashed in response gave Uzume the impression that this wasn't the first time she had heard that. "That's the spirit! Let's go!" 

 

Though Uzume didn't necessarily have to keep up at jogging speed like the Mienfoo did before, she still had to follow along with what seemed like the most optimal brisk walk anyone could possibly muster. It was hard to look for villains while she was busy trying not to trip over her own feet. Ikane, on the other hand, looked like she was right at home charging forward at this "walking" speed, even with the huge coat under her arm and oversized hat on her head. She probably walks from class to class like this, huh? Don't wanna miss any of those learnin's. God, her feet were starting to hurt already. 

"Remember to look down every alley we pass! They're supposed to be in white, anyway. Can't be too hard to spot," their black-haired leader loudly announced. "Hey Uzume, who's this other girl? I don't think I've ever seen you sit down and talk with anyone that wasn't Sakuya." 

"I'm Ikane," she answered instead with an annoyed tone. "I met Uzume just yesterday. You're in the same class as her, I presume?" 

"Sure am. Just call me Karao, the next Veilstone gym leader. And this is Tenni, who doesn't look like he's LOOKING hard enough!" The Mienfoo's eyes shot up from the ground and frantically scanned the immediate area. 

Uzume slapped herself on the forehead. It was Karao, of course! How did she forget the loudest person in the class? To add to her embarrassment, Karao managed to remember Uzume's name right off the bat like it was nothing, even despite the fact that they pretty much never spoke. 

Filled with relief and just a pinch of indignance, Uzume crossed her arms as she sifted through the thin crowds, seeing nothing more than an average summer day in downtown Veilstone. The only notably white thing she could find was the stonework beneath their feet. Mesprit and Uxie were probably looking somewhere nearby, too, but it was all silent on their ends. The aliens probably weren't even out today. If the whole gym AND the cops were out looking for them, why would they be out in plain sight? 

"Ah, you know what?" Karao spoke up. "We should search where there's less people. As much sense as it makes to summon deadly monsters in populated areas, I hate crowds and it's annoying to be here. Let's goooo....this way!" She whipped around and started down a narrow side street. 

Karao sure was right about the 'less people' thing. There wasn't a single soul to be found in this direction. All they managed to find were back entrances, garbage bins, and the slightly grimy and honest appearance of a city street that didn't have maintenance fawning over it each day. The sun's rays could only peek through between the cracks between buildings, leaving just the cool ocean breeze to waft through. As refreshing as it was, Uzume felt her stomach start to twist up in a way that seemed to imply that Karao had chosen the right direction to find trouble. She glanced over to Ikane, whose expression was slightly scrunched up like she had smelled something awful. Their eyes met for a moment. The feeling must have been mutual. 

Just then, a voice she didn't recognize rang out from right behind her ears. ' _Bad news. I found one of the bad guys, and it's a new one. Huge guy, like six foot something and totally jacked. He doesn't look friendly.'_

' _Where?'_ Uxie immediately responded. 

' _Just east of you, the direction you're already heading. He looks like he's looking for something. Stay sharp.'_

All the while, Karao just marched on towards certain doom, a determined look on her face and a spring in her step. If the description of the alien wasn’t enough to put Uzume off, hearing Azelf actually say something for the first time ever must have meant that things were about to go very wrong. They had to go put a stop to whatever that alien was going to do, but...they had to lead Karao off somehow. She shot a glance over to Ikane, who pulled down the rim of her huge hat and nodded. 

"Oh hey!" Uzume said, leaning into the first alley she could find. "I think I saw something down here!" 

Karao rushed over in a heartbeat. "What? Where? Down this way, right? Was it a white suit? Not a business suit but like a suit suit!" 

"I mean, I wouldn't have pointed it out if I didn't think it was. I can't see whatever it was anymore, though." 

kane added to the ruse. "It'd be too conspicuous if all three of us charged down an alley at them. You should follow down this way, Karao. We can meet up with you on the other side of the block. That way we can make sure all the suspect's exits are covered." 

"Well what are we waiting for, then? Let's go!" After beckoning the Mienfoo along, Karao sped off down the empty alley while Ikane and Uzume continued down the original road. Hm. That was way easier than it should have been. 

' _This way!'_ Mesprit said, invisibly tugging on Uzume's shirt in the direction of an old industrial district. They were finally able to break out into a run after twenty minutes of speed walking, charging towards their next fight with cold excitement pumping through their veins. This time she wasn't going to play around. If they managed to summon an ultra beast, the damage would practically be unavoidable. 

Ikane chuckled as she panted for breath. "You know, I think we're actually going to make a good team." 

If there weren't many people before, they certainly weren't going to find any here. Fences topped with barbed wire trailed on to their left while mossy brick warehouses towered to the right. There were a few vehicles parked in distant lots, mostly big trucks with one or two construction vehicles sprinkled in between. A slight artificial smell lingered on the back of the fresh breeze. What would the alien be looking for in a place like this? Tools? Parts? Industrial waste? 

They found him. White suit, shining visor, and massive build all. The alien walked out from between two parked shipment containers on the other side of the fences, looked around for a few moments, then started to walk off into a different lot. The two girls were too far away for him to notice. 

"How do we get in? All the gates are going to be locked and we can't climb over!" Uzume managed to spit a few words out as she ran. 

' _Hold still,'_ Uxie commanded. They both skid to a stop, never taking their eyes off the distant alien. A weird feeling washed over Uzume, almost like she was being sucked up into a tornado or something. The air pressure tightened around her whole body, then her feet left the ground. 

She tried to relax as Uxie's telekinesis carried her over the fence. but somewhere around four feet high she felt a wave of panic wash over. She couldn't take another breath until her shoes hit the concrete on the other side. On the other end, Ikane seemed right at home being picked up by psychic energy and whisked away. It didn't even look like her first time. 

Azelf's voice invaded her thoughts once more. ' _I don't wanna wait until he finds what he's looking for! We shouldn't even give him the chance!'_

Before they could even make it halfway towards the man, Uzume saw a girl and a Mienfoo rush out from the buildings on the opposite side of the fence. Karao shouted a laugh at the top of her lungs as she recalled Tenni back into his pokeball mid-run, hopped straight up onto the fence, and started climbing. "Great job, you guys! Found him!" 

The suited man turned towards Karao first, then to his pursuers. It was impossible to read the emotion on his permanent frown, no thanks to the visor over his face or the distance between them. 

Somehow Karao managed to slip past all the barbed wire and landed on the other side with a thud. She freed Tenni from his pokeball once more and pointed towards the alien with all the bravado she could muster. "Alright, guy! You might as well give up now and save me the trouble of defeating you anyway! Come back quietly and I won't have to beat the life outta you!" 

After a few moments of utter silence, the huge man strode towards Uzume and Ikane instead, paying no attention to the trainer that was threatening him. Karao screamed after him to no avail. With each massive step he took, Uzume felt herself shrinking further and further away. This guy wasn't joking around. He wasn't here to bury himself in books or get hopelessly lost in the city. He looked ready to crack someone's skull in. 

"Sh-shouldn't you be guarding the doors to a club, or something?" Uzume stuttered out, trying her best to calm down. 

Once he was a good ten feet away, the alien stopped. His voice was deep and serious. "Are you the two girls who fought with Ottelia and Graci?" 

Ikane gave a breathless squeak. "What...What do you want? Why are you here!?" 

"What he should want is to fight me!" Karao shouted from behind the man. Tenni took a wide fighting stance and waited along with her. "I swear if you ignore me for another second I'm going to clock you in the back of the head! Fair fighting's for chumps with judges around!" 

The man sighed and took another few steps forward. Each time his foot touched the ground it covered twice the distance Uzume made from backing up. The alien was upon her in a matter of seconds. 

Uzume blinked and he was already raising a fist, ready to swing. Everything was moving too fast. She gasped and braced herself, but in an instant her field of vision was filled up with a transparent yellow glow, the barrier taking the full brunt of the blow just inches in front her face. Uxie materialized above her head, the gem on his forehead twinkling with psychic energy. 

Karao came up from behind the alien and delivered a standing kick straight to the back of his legs. He only buckled slightly from the blow, but Tenni came around and launched a palm directly into his side, knocking him even further off-balance. The alien recovered from his fall quickly enough to twist around and swing at his assailant, but both Karao and her pokemon had no trouble jumping away. 

"Uzume!" Ikane cried out as she pulled the stunned girl away from the fight. "Are you alright? Snap out of it!" 

Mesprit flew by and slapped Uzume across the face with a tail. She woke up with a gasp, her blurry eyes refocusing on the battle that was unfolding before her. It was like her brain had suddenly jump-started. "Wait! Karao, you gotta get out of here! You can't win against him!" 

"Oh yeah? You think I'm scared of people who are bigger than me? I get thrown around all day by the dudes in the gym! If anything, I've got the best chance against a guy like this!" 

The alien straightened his back and put a finger up to the side of his helmet, looking up at the two lake guardians that had appeared out of thin air. "Ottelia was right. The pokemon were completely invisible, but uncloaked when I started to attack...Okay, understood. I'll check it out." 

"There's a headpiece in there," Ikane breathlessly noted. "He's talking to the others. Uzume, we need to transform now! There might be more coming!" 

They held out their arms and puffed out their chests. Uzume felt Mesprit disappear into her back, and that familiar wave of tingling energy rushed through her veins once more. Mesprit's power trailed down her arms and legs, leaving out the tips of her toes as gravity left her behind. A bright pink flash illuminated the area, followed by a yellow one. The fear that had its iron grip around her moments ago simply melted away, overcome by the sense of determination that butted its way into her thoughts. Having two minds in one head was something she would have thought was creepy before, but it was actually really reassuring. 

 

"Vessel of Emotion, Scarlet Verity!"

 

"Vessel of Knowledge, Scarlet Acquity!"

 

  


_____

 

In the end, Karao had no words to describe what was happening right in front of her. One moment Uzume was getting absolutely decked in the face, then a weird fairy pokemon appears out of thin air to block the punch, and now there are two different people literally floating in the air where the two girls had been, twin tails sprouting out their lower backs and a red gem on each of their foreheads. She let her shoulders slump in confusion, spots stuck in her eyes from where the colorful lights had burned into her retina. 

"I- um," she tried to say something, but there really wasn't anything to say. "You know what, I thought I told you guys to run or watch when we found one of the guys! This wasn't my plan!" 

"That plan's done. It wasn't going to work anyway," said the yellow girl--Scarlet Ackita or whatever. "Stay back and don't get involved. No matter how many punches you can dodge, this is going to escalate way beyond what you can deal with." 

Before Karao could think of a comeback, the huge man placed a finger on his helmet and spoke. "They've merged with their pokemon already. Permission to use the Wormhole Rod." 

"Oh no you don't!" Uzume, or the person that Uzume became, lunged through the air with a fist trained for the brute's head. He sidestepped the attack and delivered an elbow straight into Uzume's gut. He tossed the girl away and blocked a kick from Ikane in the following second, his polymer armguards taking the blow like it was nothing. 

Karao slapped herself on the face and raised her fists once more. "Come on, Tenni! Enough standing around! They're stealing our credit!" She rushed into the fray and motioned to kick the man's legs out from beneath him once more. He anticipated the move and braced himself despite having to pay attention to three targets at once. The same leg she struck raised to kick her back, barely missing her chest by an inch. She circled around and landed two quick blows into his stomach, but the only thing she hit was armor. His arm came down on her like an anvil, bashing her in the shoulder while she was retreating. 

The disorientation faded quickly, and she was more or less used to the pain from sparring matches, but holy crap that was going to bruise. Tenni followed up on her attack and feigned away shortly after, all the while the two transformed weirdos flew at him from above like a swarm of angry Beedrill. The man was so well-trained that he barely even seemed phased, and his armor was hard as a rock for how easily he was moving around in it. For every strange bolt of energy Uzume shot at him, there were three more that just missed outright. 

"I've come to deliver a message!" the brute shouted as Tenni's fist bounced off his armguards. "To the children that have been meddling with our mission in this world!" 

Everyone backed off, but nobody really backed down. Ikane scoffed from above. "I can hear your receiver now. Who are you talking to, Cymon? What's that big, scary mission all of your friends kept talking about?" 

The man, Simon or whatever, continued on with whatever in the world he was monologuing about. "None of that matters. What matters is your interference. Leave us be, and we will eventually leave your world with no consequence to you. Continue to fight with us, however, and your lives may come to an end. We will not hesitate to remove any obstacles in our way for the greater good." 

Uzume crossed her arms, her thin tails flicking wildly behind her. "Oh yeah? What's your plan, then?" When the huge man gave no response, a grimace came over her face. "See, if you can't even explain the details of your mission then it's obviously not in good faith. Why should we trust what you say?" 

"Because your life depends on it," he replied with grave sincerity. 

"Who cares?!" Karao pulled her shoulders back and readjusted her stance. "Obviously they don't care, otherwise they wouldn't be throwing themselves at you left and right! Whatever's up with you and your buddies, it's becoming a problem with the city, and if it's a problem with the city then it's a problem for me!" 

Cymon gave a low, grainy hum before he reached down to pull something from his belt. She almost expected it to be a gun or a knife, but it was just a tiny cylindrical trinket-kinda thing. Uzume hissed at the sight for some reason, and Ikane shouted for him to stop. Was it like a bomb or something? It didn't look big enough to be that scary, and a little shrapnel never hurt anyone. 

A blue blur appeared out of nowhere and zipped right past the brute's hand. It seemed like it tried to strike at the object in his grip, but his hands were so huge that it just collided with his knuckles and glanced away. The strange projectile turned out to be a third of the two fairies that had appeared out of thin air earlier. 

"Damn, so close!" the blue fairy growled. This was all still very confusing, but at this point talking pokemon wasn't so high on the list of weird things that were currently going on. 

"Hmph. You shouldn't have done that." Cymon stuck out his arm and pressed a button on the device, causing it to extend into a super rad sword of light--way cooler than a knife or a gun. He stabbed the blade into what seemed like the air itself, pulled downward until light started to bend and distort, and slashed open a deep hole in the middle of nothing. Uzume and the blue fairy fired off a few psychic blasts in Cymon's direction, most of which disappearing into the crack he created. Suddenly there was a lot of strange motions coming from inside. 

Ikane flew past Karao's head. "This is the part where you were really supposed to run away." 

Something very big, very angry, and very red pulled itself out of the rip in the universe. At first she saw two huge human-like arms, but a razor-sharp proboscis came shortly afterwards, and then the rest of the ungodly monster followed suit. It was somehow even larger than the pale human that summoned it, and looked probably around four times as ugly. Suddenly Karao didn't really feel up to fighting anymore. 

"Buzzwole," Cymon addressed the beast like he were speaking to a subordinate. "Eliminate the threat." 

The beast struck a magnificent pose, turned its alien head towards the two floating girls, and charged into battle on its four creepy legs. Ikane conjured a half-dome to block its running attack, but the two jabs it launched battered against the shield like a jackhammer, making visible indents in what appeared to be solid light. Two more punches and there were cracks on the edges. The Buzzwole readed back and swung with the added momentum of its entire body weight, shattering the shield with a resounding bang. 

"Then I'll handle you," Karao heard the blue fairy say to Cymon. The pokemon was barely larger than a basketball, practically a speck of dust compared to the man it was trying to face. 

She popped her bruised shoulder and stepped up next to the pokemon, motioning Tenni to do the same with a flick of her head. "Yeah well I'm not going to go anywhere near that muscle-thing, so I'll just have to handle him, too. You're not going to take my free promotion to away from me." 

"How many times do we have to tell you to stand back, kid?" the fairy snarled. "You're going to get yourself and your pokemon hurt! This isn't your fight, and I can't afford to waste my time having to protect you two dead weights." 

Cymon cracked his knuckles. "I don't care how many of you come at me. The result will be the same." He ran at them, they ran to him, and in the middle they clashed. 

Obviously the fairy could keep itself out of range of the brute's fists. It was Karao's problem, but she wasn't on the offensive in the first place. She slid under his first salvo of punches and rolled out of the way of the kick that tried to follow her. 

"Jump kick!" she commanded, but Tenni was already in position anyway. The Mienfoo landed a square blow into Cymon's stomach and bounced off with a tight backflip. When the brute stumbled backwards, a huge white crack of lightning connected with his shoulder and seared the polymer armor that protected it. The tiny pokemon in the sky crackled with energy. 

All this work and Cymon didn't even seem phased. Instead of going after a defensive target and an impossible one, he lunged for the Mienfoo. Tenni dodged the first few blows just fine, but was forced to block a blow that came from his side. The impact of the blow was so strong that his toe claws scraped against the concrete as he attempted to stay upright. 

Karao came in from behind with a haymaker to distract the brute from her pokemon, but only managed to get her whole forearm grabbed instead. A devastating fist collided with her gut, rocking her so hard that every last ounce of air in her lungs was forced out her mouth. She was tossed away like a ragdoll. 

Her vision blurred for a few moments. She saw the fairy charge Cymon and begin to kick with its tiny legs, but there was somehow so much force behind its attacks that each blow knocked the brute back a few inches. Farther away in the lot, dazzling displays of pink and yellow light exploded across the Buzzwole's body, but the beast seemed to shrug off everything that came its way, just like the criminal that summoned it. Every shield and barrier Ikane produced was promptly shattered, and both Uzume's physical and magical attacks just glanced off the beast. The best they could do was keep out of its range. 

Karao grit her teeth, sucked in a breath as hard as she could, then scrambled to her feet, clutching her stomach. "T-Tenni! Combination Attack, Jawbreaker!" She rushed forward and kneeled down a good five feet away from Cymon, bracing her bad shoulder for the weight it was about to support. The Mienfoo ran up her back, kicked off her shoulders, and launched towards the distracted brute. Cymon turned his head just in time for Tenni's heel to collide with the front of his helmet. The thud from the blow echoed through the entire lot. 

Cymon stumbled backwards with a new crack in the glass of his visor, but it didn't seem like his jaw had been broken, and it definitely didn't seem like he was finished with them. This guy wasn't even human. It doesn't matter that he was wearing a helmet, nobody's going to take the brunt of a hit like that and still be standing. 

A plume of flame engulfed the brute as the blue fairy flew past, but he just put an arm up in front of his face and stomped forward like it was nothing. Tenni tried to scramble out of the way, but Cymon was way faster than he looked, kicking the Mienfoo's legs out from under him. A forearm came down over Tenni's head with a sickening thud. The pokemon collapsed on the spot, knocked out from a single blow. Cymon raised his boot to finish the job. 

"No!" Karao jumped forward. She wrapped herself around the Mienfoo and shielded him with her whole back. The stomp turned into a kick, cleanly connecting between her shoulder blades and sending her flying. The ground scraped at her bare skin until she came to a stop, but it still felt like the world was spinning. Her whole body locked up as the pain spread like acid in her veins. All she could do was curl around the Mienfoo and focus on figuring out how to breathe again. 

"I had heard that the humans of this world expressed ownership over pokemon," Cymon said from behind her, breathing heavily. "I heard that they raised and trained them to be fighters. I can see that the rumor was true by how dangerously you two children fought. Had I been any weaker or less prepared, things could have been different." Massive feet clomped up behind her. Another bolt of lightning crashed down, but it didn't seem to slow him down. "But still, you are both too young, and now you have lost." 

Like hell she had. With the single breath Karao could suck back in, she reached down to her belt and recalled Tenni back into his pokeball. In the split second that followed, she swung all of her weight into rolling out of the way. The action of getting to her knees felt more like falling upwards, but the blue fairy bought her enough time to come to a shaky stand. 

"You idiot! Will you hurry up and leave before you get killed?!" The tiny pokemon shouted and flew back into the sky. 

Karao wiped the blood from the side of her mouth. "What, are you nuts? I'm...I'm only just getting started. The only time you gain muscle when you're working out is when it hurts. 'Sides, I'm not letting him get away...with what he did to Tenni. I'm gonna break his goddamn arm." 

The fairy whizzed by her head. "You can barely stand! Almost everyone would have just given up by now, because they like living! They would want to keep living! Do you honestly believe you can keep fighting in a state like this? Are you honestly that ready to die?!" 

"Screw off you stupid...thing! Whatever you are! You're not stopping me!" 

"Do you have the strength to take on whatever comes next?!" 

This was getting really stupid. "Why do you think I'm standing here you unbearable little piece of- Gah!" Something phased straight through her chest like water splashing through a grate. Karao coughed, clutching her insides as an uncomfortable feeling quickly spread through her torso and into her extremities. A tingling pressure grew to replace the sensation of pain together, sort of like what adrenaline did but even stronger. Her vision filled with blue as everything about her body shifted around and changed. Somewhere in the middle of the transformation she recognized it as the same process Uzume and Ikane went through just minutes earlier, and just like them, something exploded off of her tongue without her permission. 

 

"For one last inch, we dig in our heels,

To overcome the odds, a trial by fire,

Use all your might to grasp your ideals!

Take the first step towards the future you desire!

Vessel of Will, Scarlet Valor!"

 

The pain was gone. Karao straightened her back and noticed that she wasn't on the ground anymore. Her original hunch was right--this really didn't feel like her own body anymore, but one she was temporarily borrowing. From somewhere in the back of her head, she heard a feminine voice cry out. 

' _Azelf, what took you so long? We're barely scratching this thing and Acquity's about to keel over and die! Do you know how many shields she had to put up just to block this freaking thing?!'_

' _Give me a minute!'_ the blue fairy inside her head spoke up. ' _We've got a bone to pick with this guy!'_

' _Hurry...'_ Ikane gasped. 

Cymon stood up and placed a finger on his helmet. He looked confused for a moment, then shook his head. "You broke my microphone." 

"I'll break your neck!" Karao screamed as she charged through the air. 

The brute put up his arms to block the blow, but there was so much power behind her fist that it caused him to buckle backwards. She grabbed his wrists in the very next moment and pulled his arms apart. A prickling sensation tensed the muscles in her neck and spiked in the center of her forehead. She headbutted him so hard that it ripped his arms out of her grip and left a ringing noise in her ears. Bits of his helmet flew off in every direction, and the rest hung loosely on his head. 

But Scarlet Valor wasn't finished there. Before the brute had the chance to recover, she dashed forward and attempted a spinning kick on his center of mass. Sharply-honed combat reflexes allowed Cymon to dodge the first blow, but since she was already flying, Karao used the continued momentum from having missed to come back around and land a punch squarely in his unprotected jaw. From that point he tumbled over like a felled tree, landing on his back on the dirty concrete--out like a light. 

Karao turned her attention to the rampaging monster. Acquity was sprawled out on the ground, barely holding it together by the looks of it. Verity was trying her best to stay out of the creature's melee range, which seemed like it was working out considering how the monster took every other opportunity to strike a pose or flex its weird, bulging muscles. It wasn't taking this seriously at all. This was just another opportunity for it to show off how powerful it was. For as horrible of a creature as it was, she totally understood where it was coming from. 

Karao extended her arm and somehow let loose a bolt of lightning between the Buzzwole and Uzume, disrupting the delicate dance between the two. The ultra beast stared up at her with a renewed vigor, launching into a mighty pose as if to welcome the challenger. 

' _I hate being last so much,'_ Azelf growled from inside her head. ' _Last to fight the monster. Last to find a guardian. Last to find an alien. It gets so annoying to have to come in late.'_

"We'll be the last hit this thing takes, too," Karao said, shifting into an impromptu mid-air version of an aggressive stance she knew. 

' _That one's not so bad.'_

The Buzzwole was immensely strong, but it wasn't as fast as Cymon. The beast swung as soon as Valor came into range, yet her newfound aerial mobility was more than enough to get out of the way. She landed three rapid strikes to its chest and balled her hands together against its neck. Heat spread through the cracks of her fingers and erupted into a huge explosion of fire and smoke, blasting the creature back before it could retaliate. 

Strength that she had never even imagined coursed through her muscles. She felt like she could lift an entire truck above her head without breaking a sweat. The monster used its insect wings to break its fall and charge at her shoulder-first. Karao didn't even have to think to get into throwing position, taking the brunt of the impact onto her shoulders and grabbing the monster around the waist. Maybe she couldn't quite lift a truck, per say, but with enough effort she did manage to flip this stupid bug dude around onto its stupid head. 

They traded blow for blow, over and over and over. It was the most intense series of moments Karao had ever experienced. Her form had never been cleaner, there was the perfect amount of force behind her fists, and everything came so naturally, too. She felt Azelf's presence with her, and together they shared the utter bliss of the battle. The Buzzwole, however, looked like it quickly was running out of steam. When it's punches started to hurt less to block, the excitement began to die away, and Azelf suggested that they finish this. Karao asked what "finishing this" looked like. 

Valor's arms spread wide on their own, forcing her to take the next blow directly to her chest. She winced in surprise and pain, bracing for the next attack that would surely come, but the monster locked up for some reason. Azelf guided her hands to the Buzzwole's massive wrists and clamped down tight. She didn't know why yet, but it felt like that last hit had sealed its doom. 

Azelf spoke through her. "The battle is over, you've lost. There's no need to fight anymore. Relax your body and surrender to our will. Submit, submit!" 

The monster went limp and fell right over. It was still breathing, which was the only thing keeping Karao from believing that it just died on the spot. Nevertheless, she picked the Buzzwole up with her heightened strength and dragged it over to the pulsing blue crack in the air. She tossed it in without so much of a care, brushed her hands on the fabric of her weird dress, and was immediately beset by a horrible feeling of fatigue. Scarlet Valor split up into two beings once more, both of which were far too tired to move. The portal closed with a loud pop, so at least there was that. 

Ikane had disengaged from Uxie a little while ago, but Uzume was still transformed when Cymon woke up. He held the remains of his helmet in his hands, revealing skin that was so pale that it was actually blue, and a clean-cut head of deep purple hair. He looked over to Scarlet Verity, sighed out his nose, got up, and started to walk away. Nobody stopped him. Nobody really could, since Verity looked like she was barely holding together in the first place. When Cymon disappeared behind a few shipment containers, she fell apart back into Mesprit and Uzume. 

They all laid there for a while. It was pretty chill, considering. Transforming apparently took a lot of energy. Normally Karao would be perfectly fine with being dead-tired, but it wasn't like a running-a-mile kind of tired at all. It was more like giving a bunch of blood and then your jugular gets cut but instead of it gushing blood it just kind of trickles out all pathetic-like. Well, maybe not like that exactly. 

' _You know what?'_ the fairy she apparently recognized as Mesprit announced. ' _I'm tired of just like, flying around these monsters and not doing anything. That's not cool at all. Next fight I gotta do something crazy like, like knock over a water tower and drop it on them or something!'_

' _At least you managed to tire it out...'_ Uxie groaned. ' _I still feel like I got hit by a train. We couldn't even move in to punch it without wasting three shields on just staying alive.'_

"Oh crap!" Karao shot up like a bullet. "I gotta get Tenni to a nurse!" 

 

  


_____

 

"What?! What do you mean I can't-" Ikane slapped a hand over Karao's mouth before the entire pokemon center turned their heads to look at them. Uzume looked up from the blank page in her sketchpad and grinned. Yeah, that sure was the loudest person in her class. 

When Karao continued, it was in a slightly more acceptable volume. "What do you mean I can't talk about being a Scarlet Guardian? Why did I go through all the trouble of fighting that alien guy if I can't even take credit for it? Nobody knows how cool I was!" 

' _I know how cool you were!'_ Mesprit chimed in. 

Ikane took off her ridiculous hat and rubbed her temples. "Look. Have you ever been told that with great power comes great responsibility? Well you have great power now so you have to be responsible. If the lake guardians are can find reason to hide in plain sight, that means it's dangerous to let your powers be common knowledge. It could totally ruin your life! Ruin your family's life! Haven't you ever watched a movie about this stuff?" 

"Psh. Is that why you've been walking around like a tiny detective?" 

"It- It's all I had at the time!" Ikane stuttered out, tucking the coat further onto the back of her seat. 

Azelf took the chance to speak up. ' _If you were going to use being a Scarlet Guardian as leverage to get more reputation at the gym, you can forget it. I would never stick with a human that couldn't earn the respect of their peers on their own.'_

"Hey!" Uzume had never seen Karao look so offended. "What do you even mean? Of course I can earn their respect! I was just saying I totally held my own ground there and I feel like I should be getting recognition for-" 

' _That's something weak people would say,'_ Azelf interrupted. Karao glared at the empty space in front of her, but it was pretty much guaranteed that the fairy was right there. ' _You fought with Cymon and you lost, even with your pokemon's help. Even if you had beaten him, what's the point? The person you're striving to be has an absolute strength, and beating one person one time in a completely empty spot in the city wouldn't have impressed anyone. Nobody would have even believed you. You need to hone your own power to be as consistent as possible and demonstrate that fact to each and every person who dares question it. THAT is absolute strength.'_

"That-! That's..." In a state of utter revelation, Karao put her hands on her head. "Dude, screw the gym. I want Azelf to train me." 

Uxie gave a telepathic hum. ' _I'm sure your teacher's have told you something like that before and you just didn't listen.'_

' _Shut up, no-eyes! She just needed to hear the words of a real master!'_ Azelf sounded so proud of himself, like he had been specifically setting up Karao to praise him this whole time. 

There was a chime on the other side of the building. Uzume watched as Karao practically launched from her seat and rushed over to the front of the center. Tenni had a few bandages here and there, but otherwise he seemed to be generally fine, and still jumped straight into Karao's arms like a lost Growlithe being reunited with its owner at the end of a sad movie. For the sheer amount of times she scolded the Mienfoo in the short while Uzume's hung out with her today, just this moment made the two seem absolutely inseparable. It was really nice to see--almost nice enough to make her feel better. Not quite, but close. 

Uzume glanced back down to the pure white sheet in front of her and bit the end of her pencil. Maybe she could draw that? Though she didn't really know how to draw a Mienfoo, much less a whole person...She wouldn't be able to do it justice, anyways. With her hand supporting her chin, Uzume turned her head to stare out the window into the pleasantly sunny afternoon. Leave it up to her stupid moods to make her feel like something was wrong on a great day like this. 

It was too hard not to think about what happened with the ultra beast. The monster was barely even fighting seriously, but if it was...Ikane might not have made it out alive. There wasn't anything Uzume could have done to stop it from attacking her while she was on the ground. In fact, Uzume could barely even keep it distracted, much less land a solid enough hit to do any damage. These powers seemed so incredible at first, but now that she's been in enough fights to get a feel for them, they all felt underwhelming. 

No, it was probably her making them useless. There were tons of Scarlet Verity's in the past, and since the world's still turning they were all strong enough to beat whatever it was they needed to beat. Maybe...she should just give up and let someone else be Mesprit's partner. 

A sigh fell out of Uzume's mouth. She turned her eyes to Mesprit, and subsequently realized that the fairy had made herself visible in public. She stared up at Uzume from the tabletop, then placed a tiny hand on the back of her own. Mesprit whispered using her real voice, "Quit bein' so gloomy. You've been too quiet today. It's making me worried." 

"I'm fine," Uzume whispered back, and almost immediately remembered that it was useless to lie to the physical embodiment of emotion itself. "I just...I'm sorting it out. It's gonna take a bit still. Don't worry about it." 

Mesprit shot her another look of concern, which was interrupted by Tenni as he to stare at the fairy from the tableside. The two pokemon locked eyes for a short while, then Mesprit stuck her tongue out and faded out of sight once more. The Mienfoo glanced around in surprise, then stuck his own tongue out in random directions to make sure he could return the favor. Even while invisible, Uzume still felt the fairy's hand on hers.


	4. The Renegades of Ultra Megalopolis!

In all of Solisano's years, he had never come across a situation as ridiculous as the one he was in now. 

The sunset filtered in through the high windows of the warehouse. The dim light that managed to make it to ground level barely illuminated the darker corners, but it was enough. Cymon silently sat against a pile of dusty freight, just barely visible in the late afternoon glow. Parts of his recon suit had been scorched, dented, or had just broke off altogether. His helmet was scrapped beyond repair, along with all the fragile tech that was once inside. This cold, trained killer of a man could wrestle a Guzzlord to the ground if he was given the proper equipment. Today, he was beaten half to death by a child. 

Solisano chuckled. "I don't want to laugh," he said. "It's not funny anymore. This is way past the part where it's supposed to be funny." 

"I swear on my life that I'm not joking," Cymon grunted, shifting uncomfortably from his injuries. 

"No, no, I believe you.” Picking at the remains of the helmet, Solisano ran his fingers over the shattered texture of the visor. You could drop a boulder on these thing and it still wouldn’t break like this. “When Graci screwed up a few days ago I just put it down as idiocy and inexperience. Ottelia had a lot on her plate from that first mistake in addition to her panicking too easily, but that’s in the past now. 

“But you, Cymon? You were supposed to hurt, capture, or just outright kill. Anything, really. It was already your specialty. It should have been a piece of cake--the easiest mission you’ve ever been on. Look at you now." 

Graci made it back with the first-aid kit she had looted yesterday. She knelt down by Cymon's side and started to rummage through the kit's contents. "Holy hell, big guy. It looks like you fell into a garbage compactor. I'd get you some ice but I don't think I'll find anything like that just lying around in any of these warehouses." 

"It's nothing too serious," the brute of a man replied. "I've been in worse shape before. Nothing feels broken. A few painkillers and some time for the swelling to fade will do." 

Solisano set himself down near the sleeping bags, his hand protectively covering the portal device resting inside his belt pouch. "It's just not normal at all. I was under the impression that we were just swatting away pests, and that the first two times were just bad luck! What else was I supposed to expect from a handful of school-age girls? Even with the help of pokemon, that's still so ridiculous!" 

"You almost sound like you're impressed with them," Ottelia snickered. 

"It's hard not to at least be surprised!" he shouted, then placed a thoughtful hand to the scruff on his chin. "...Fine! I admit it, it would be suicidal to keep underestimating them. Not that I think I was wrong for treating bratty kids like they were bratty kids. Either way, I’m going to make sure this never happens again. Ottelia!" 

"Yes, darling?" she readily answered. 

"Find out all you can about the species of pokemon that’s been helping those kids transform. I want biology, weaknesses, strengths, diet--anything you can get your hands on. Go through what you have now, I'll try to find some sort of database or encyclopedia while I'm out in the next few days. Keep up with your main search while you're at it." 

Graci lifted her head from Cymon's tattered armor. "Well what am I gonna do? I’m tired of running around just gathering crap all day!" 

"Then make a map so you stop getting lost, idiot. We’ll need one, anyway." Solisano flexed his knuckles, his grimace deepened by the shroud of darkness. "I didn’t plan on having a genuine threat to our mission once we escaped Ultra Megalopolis. We ought to snuff them out properly." 

 

  


_____

 

Uzume kicked her legs beneath the bench, a sigh stuck in her throat. She idly glanced over at the book Ikane was reading, but only saw lines of overly-complex chemical reactions and neatly condensed paragraphs. She tried to decipher the flood of information for a few seconds, then quickly gave up and slumped back down. "Geez, what even is that? Are you studying rocket science for fun or something?" 

"Yes," Ikane replied. 

"...Wait. You're serious?" 

Having stuck her thumb between the pages, Ikane held the cover up for Uzume to see. She managed to read the word thermodynamics and blanked out for the rest. "If you wanted to be accurate, you could call it aerospace engineering. I was looking at some of the older solid-propellant fuels that the Mossdeep Space Center used ten years ago when they were still launching Devon Corp's satellites into orbit." 

Uzume rubbed her temples. "And you can actually understand all that?" 

"Mm, only parts of it for now. Still probably more than most people." Ikane dove right back into the confusing mess of scientific terms and janky letter-math like a kid barging into a candy shop. 

What the hell was a solid-propellant? Besides something that was solid once and surely propelled something later. Better question, why was this apparently fun? 

"Hey Uxie," Uzume muttered as she waved her hand through the air. "Is this normal, or should I be worried about contracting Nerd Disease from this encounter?" 

' _Aerospace engineering is a relatively new concept in the developing world of human technology. It's an extremely interesting field to get into. I would highly recommend it, or if the physics are a little too steep, you can always fall back on general space sciences, too.'_

Mesprit chuckled into her ear. ' _Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Uxie, these kids are all like, still learning about exponents and radians and stuff. I thought rocket science was supposed to be double-college ultimate doctorate 2: electric boogaloo.'_

"It's something like that," Ikane flatly said as she casually skimmed through the most advanced subjects Uzume had ever seen. 

After a few more minutes of waiting, the gym doors exploded open with a triumphant shout. Karao rushed out of the building with her arms to the sky, and Tenni followed shortly afterwards with a little less enthusiasm. She charged straight to the bench everyone was sitting at and leaned over the back. 

"Work done! I hope this whole thing blows over soon, I'm not about to deal with cleaning duty for the next month. So, where're we gonna look today?" 

Ikane slid her insane college-level textbook into her bag and pulled out a folded map of the city instead. She traced a finger along the streets that weren't already marked out in red pen, biting her tongue in thought. 

"It's tough finding places that the police and the gym haven't already scoured by now. I still think that one factory where we fought Cymon is really close to where they're hiding out, but it's not like we can go snooping around in there." 

"Nuh uh. We can snoop there all we want. It just wouldn't be legal," Uzume added. 

Karao tapped her forehead. "Exactly! If we get found out, what's the worst that's gonna happen? They'd just throw us out and call our parents." She gave a mischievous smile and shrugged. "That’s really not so bad! What, am I gonna get grounded or something? My room's on the third floor and I can still climb down from my window just fine!" 

Ikane shuddered. "Absolutely not. Me and you have different ideas of 'grounded'. Let's just stick to the places we CAN snoop around and leave it at that." 

"Uxie could even do his mind-wipe thing to make everyone forget we were even there!" 

' _That would be an abuse of my power,'_ the fairy repeated for the sixth time since Karao had become a Scarlet Guardian. 

"Public areas and that's final," commanded Ikane before leaning in closer to the map. "...But there really aren't that many places left. They're obviously hiding well enough to avoid any detection from officials, and there hasn't been an ultra beast in the last few days. We could check around..." 

Uzume stopped listening. She blinked a few times and tried to hone back in on the conversation, but something was wrong. Her eyes gravitated upwards and scanned the immediate area. All she saw was a small handful of people and pokemon going about their days. At worst, there was someone down the road who was completely covered up in concealing winter clothes. What the heck? They were probably dying beneath all that! What kind of person would need… 

The longer she stared at the back of their hood, the more uneasy she felt. 

"Do you guys see-?" before Uzume could speak, the wind picked up and blew a piece of paper straight into her face. She reflexively grabbed at the paper, missing entirely and knocking it back into the mercy of the breeze. Tenni jumped up, snatched the flying trash out of the air, and landed in one graceful motion. He puffed his chest out proudly upon handing it off to Karao. 

"Nice catch, bud! What is this, though? Some kinda advertisement or something?" Karao lifted the paper to eye level, turning it this way and that in her grip. Her expression went from impressed, to confused, to disconcertingly serious, and finally wrapped back around to suppressed excitement. She motioned to hand the paper off to Uzume. "That's not an advertisement at all, guys!" 

The thing that slapped her in the face turned out to be some kind of note. It started off harmless enough, stating a time later in the afternoon and a place off in the outskirts of downtown. The junkyard, by the looks of it. The problem was about three lines down, handwritten with such severe precision that it reminded Uzume of how teachers wrote their names up on blackboards on the first day of school. 

"Scarlet Guardians," Uzume read it aloud. Letting those two words ring in her ears, she looked up towards where she saw the hooded person, but there was no one there. 

"It's a challenge!" Karao laughed with glee. "We're totally being summoned for a fight! Oh my god, I've always wanted to have this happen to me! I thought I was gonna have to become the gym leader before I finally saw something like this!" 

Ikane grabbed the paper and pointed at the spot on the map where it said to meet. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and frowned. "This has got to be a trap. Why else would those aliens want us to meet anywhere? As long as we aren’t there to stop them, they could get away with anything!" 

"I dunno," Uzume sighed, glaring at the concrete beneath her feet. "What if there's a secret society who knows about the Scarlet Guardians? I mean, we don't KNOW that this came from the aliens themselves, right?" 

' _I haven't heard of anything like that,'_ Uxie duly noted. ' _As far as I'm aware, nobody but our enemies have seen us transform, so even if there was a hidden group like that, which there hasn't been in a very long time, there's no way for them to know that new Guardians have been made.'_

"Where did this even come from?" Ikane asked, looking around just as Uzume did earlier. Neither the two other girls, nor the three fairies, gave any answer. It was just silence mixed with an unbearable feeling of unease. 

Passively folding up the letter, Ikane squinted at the horizon. "...Yeah. So what are we going to do? Just take the chance and bite down on the bait? Trusting this letter is definitely going to lead to more harm than good." 

"It's not a trap! It's a writ of challenge!" Karao jumped up and down behind the bench. Tenni loosely copied the motion. "Of course we have to go! Any dirty tricks they play are just more opportunities for us to come out on top and crush their spirits! Come on, Ikane! You're the one that's always talking about superheroes! You should know that a hero would never turn down something like this." 

Suddenly, everyone turned to Uzume. She slid to the far end of the bench and shrunk away, but their eyes still fell on her. The lake guardians were being unnaturally quiet, as well, when normally this would be the part where Uxie deduced something important or Azelf tried to turn this into a life lesson. She closed her eyes and tried her best to clear her mind. 

After a short while, the answer was a little clearer. "We don't really have any other choice but to go. I mean, if they really wanted us to be somewhere, all they would have to do is pop an ultra beast into existence and call it good, since we _have_ to respond to those. Why go through the trouble of finding us and writing that letter if there wasn't something else that they wanted?" 

"Maybe there's a catch to them summoning the ultra beasts, like there's a limited amount they can do it," Ikane suggested, shaking her head. "They'd just be conserving energy by luring us someplace. It’s still more convenient for them." 

Karao let out a groan. "Well what if they don't even wanna fight in the first place, huh? What if, on the off chance that things are getting lame, they wanted to set up some kind of truce? I mean, I probably wouldn’t accept it, but what if, right?" 

"Uxie!" Ikane shouted to the sky. "What do you think we should do? Speak up already!" 

The fairy gave an audible hum rather than a telepathic one. ' _All of these points are valid. In the end, it's a decision for the three of you to consolidate on yourselves. You are the Scarlet Guardians of this age. It will be your actions together that determine the future, not my siblings and I.'_

"Ah yeah, so no pressure then," Uzume groaned as she rubbed at her own forehead. The last thing she wanted to be reminded of was how many responsibilities she had. "Look. The bait is the fact that we can't ignore an ultra beast. They know that by this point, so if we don't show up it's pretty much certain they're gonna force our hand anyway." 

"But it's such an easy trap either way!" Ikane stood straight up, neatly folded the map along its creases, and stowed away into her bag. "Okay. So we have a few hours before the time on the letter, so there's still a while to think it over. What are we going to do until we're forced to decide?" 

Karao’s eyes lit up. "I dunno about you guys but I could eat this entire bench. I forgot to have breakfast this morning, sooo..." 

 

 

This wasn't the first time Uzume had been in Zack's--otherwise known as the burger joint where a guy fought a Toxicroak like ten years ago. She still didn't remember the menu at all, and she barely even remembered what it was like inside. She and the others just chose a corner booth to sit at and had their orders taken. Karao wanted an entire meal for her and Tenni to share. Ikane just wanted fries. Uzume wasn't hungry at all, so she just passed. Now wasn't the time to put such heavy food in her stomach, anyways. There was already enough butterflies in there to last her all day. 

"So..." Ikane started to say something, but trailed off as she stared out the window. 

"You think this place has a secret recipe for its burgers?" Karao randomly asked, glancing around the diner. "I figure most places do. Wouldn't it be boring to not have a secret ingredient? What's the point of running a food place if you don't got a hidden weapon to make it unique? Like, 'oh we got normal burgers and normal fries and normal sauce' isn't a sales pitch." 

Uzume bit her tongue. "I dunno. I really didn't come here often. There was once a guy who fought a Toxicroak in here, I guess. So I've been told. That's not really a sales pitch, either." 

"No no no, I got it!" Karao sat up straight in her seat and rubbed her hands together. "What if they had this special hot sauce, right? Special burger, special hot sauce, and it's crazy spicy! What if the slogan was something about how only the manliest men could take that burger on, and how they're so macho that they could walk over to the Veilstone Gym and just punch the whole thing out with their manly fists? Boom, notoriety! And local, too!" 

Time awkwardly passed. Their food came at some point--well, mostly Karao's food. Ikane was barely pecking at her french fries, but Karao and Tenni were digging right in like they hadn't eaten for a week. Uzume reached over and stole a fry, which still took her half a minute to eat. 

"So about that letter," Ikane finally completed her sentence from earlier. "Uzume. You said we have to go, right? That we didn't have any other choice?" 

"We really don't. It's nice they even sent us the invitation, since the alternative was them causing destruction to lure us somewhere." Uzume idly played with the fork in front of her, reflecting the sunlight off its silver sheen and making bright spots on the wall. "I'd rather them save the energy and save everyone the trouble, you know? Even if it's a trap, nobody but us would have had to get hurt from it. You don't have to come if you don't want to. It's definitely the smarter move." 

Ikane popped a fry into her mouth. "But you're just going to go anyway, right? Regardless of whether I agree to it or not?" 

"Hey!" Karao spoke up with her mouth full. "I was gonna go, too! She wouldn't have been alone!" 

"I didn't say I wasn't going to go, I was just wondering is all." 

Uzume tapped her fingers along the length of the fork.. "I'm serious, though. You can stay behind and be our back-up in case something goes wrong. I get that it's a stupid idea, you're right about that." 

"Hush," Ikane put a finger to her lips. "I'm not done. I was just wondering if were already committed to following the letter, and you obviously are. I'm just- maybe I'm just not as brave as you. You don't even seem worried about it at all." 

Uzume let out something that was halfway between a choke and a chuckle. "Of course I'm worried! It's terrifying! I'm just too stupid to figure out a plan that doesn't involve just...going there. At least Karao's got a reason to show up. I don't have any other reason besides the fact that I'm a Scarlet Guardian. It’s just my job." 

An agitated look on her face, Ikane shoved a handful of fries into her mouth and downed it all in seconds. "You're not stupid! Nobody said you were stupid! And we're all Scarlet Guardians. In fact, you're probably the most Scarlet Guardian out of all of us. I mean, no offence to Karao, but it seems like she's mostly just here to prove herself and get into fights." 

"You know it, baby!" she replied with a mouthful of burger. 

Ikane continued. "And I'm here because I accidentally stumbled upon a bunch of things I wasn't supposed to know. Now I'm annoyed at myself because of how easily you make being a good person look." 

"Wha-" Uzume fell back into her seat, glancing in every direction that wasn't forward. "I don't- It's just- How am I being a good person?" 

"’Cuz you’re thinking about protecting the city and I’m trying to rationalize not going at all. Quit doubting yourself, you’re definitely doing something right! What kind of crappy Scarlet Guardian would I be if I let the two of you run off by yourselves?" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Besides, I'd probably just regret it if I didn't go." 

Mesprit's voice rang from behind their ears. ' _See? This kinda stuff gets to happen when we're all quiet! That's some genuine team-building right there and we don't even need to do anything! The fries were pretty alright, too!'_

Ikane's head whipped around, but her plate was already empty. She glared at the crumbs for a few seconds before some sort of demonic growl escaped her throat. "You ate my fries?!" 

' _They needed salt,'_ Azelf muttered. ' _Not great. You'd expect a burger place to have decent fries, really...'_

"You should have asked us for your own fries, then! I didn't say you could have any of mine! You didn't even ask at all!" Ikane shouted as loudly as was socially acceptable in the middle of a restaurant. 

Uzume stuttered as she spoke up. "If you want more fries I could order-" 

She was interrupted as Ikane put a hand to her face. "No. This isn't about the fries anymore. Now I'm going to make these freeloaders work twice as hard to break us out of trouble when those aliens attack us." 

"That's the spirit!" Karao cheered as she finished off the last of her burger. Tenni gave a similar cheer and nearly choked as a result. 

 

  


_____

 

Half-organized piles of scrap metal and broken bits were everywhere. It was like they were walking in the valley of a mountain range of nearly-recoverable garbage. Their feet kicked up dust on the dirt path they followed, deeper and deeper into the wasteland of rusty metal. The letter had only stated that they were meant to meet here, it didn't actually say _where_ in the junkyard they were supposed to be. Apparently that was something they had to figure out themselves. 

Karao was doing some stretches as they walked. Tenni was in his pokeball just in case there was a trap to fall into. Ikane kept whispering up to the invisible lake guardians and peeking around corners before turning into them. Uzume, on the other hand, walked aimlessly along the tire tracks and waited for something to happen. Everyone else was anxious about preparing for the worst, but she was just...going. Was there something more she was supposed to be doing? 

Azelf saw the figures before anyone else did. They turned a corner and found a spot that Uzume would almost describe as a grove of trash, enclosed from the outside world by stacks of junk cars and derelict tractors. There were four people waiting within, each with their own stuffy set of clothes to hide their features. She recognized Cymon almost immediately, and Ottelia's forced sense of fashion was easy to deduce as well. Graci looked like she had to rob a gypsy to get her disguise, but it was certainly distracting enough to work. 

That left one odd alien out. Uzume squinted at their raincoat and was vaguely reminded of the figure she saw before the letter had smacked her in the face. 

The mysterious alien was the first to take a step forward, and the first to remove his hood. He was young, couldn't have been more than thirty, and embodied what Uzume would describe the 'cunning businessman'. He had a head of short blue hair that trailed down down the side of his face and converged into scruff on his chin. He was smiling, but his eyes weren't friendly. 

"The Scarlet Guardians, I presume?" the man said, doing a sort of half-bow. The rest of the aliens followed his example, taking off their hoods and walking up to where he was standing. 

"You would presume right," Uzume answered. "Though you probably didn't have to guess too hard, did you? Otherwise we wouldn't have found that letter." 

Ikane adjusted her glasses and put her arms behind her back. "Why did you call us here?" she hissed. 

The young man jokingly put his hands up in surrender. "Come on, now! I only wanted to talk, that's all. No need to put up your fists quite yet." 

"Aww man! No traps or diversions?" Karao kicked up a cloud of dust. "That's pretty much the whole reason why I'm here!" 

"Yet," the man reminded her before putting his hands in his pockets. "There will be plenty of time for fighting after we're done. For now, I just wanted to establish a kind of...common grounds for all of us to stand on. I promise that this isn’t a trap. In fact, I feel that it was irresponsible of me to write you off as mere children. Irresponsible to my own team and disrespectful to you." 

This guy was definitely the ruthless type, but at least he seemed to be generally honest at the moment. It had something to do with that formal appearance, for sure. This was part of doing business to him. 

Uzume relaxed her shoulders. "Alright, but what the heck is 'common grounds' supposed to mean to us? I feel like you're skirting around what you really mean." 

He shook his head. "I assure you, I mean every word. Here." The man slowly reached behind his back and pulled out two of the small portal devices, one in each hand. He held them up so that they were clearly visible. 

"Don't you dare!" Ikane shouted. Everyone tensed up. Even the air grew thicker, as if to represent the fairies getting ready to strike. 

"Relax! I'm not going to use them. I'm showing you that we have two, and only two. That's all." 

Karao shifted into a fighting stance and pointed an accusing finger. "So you're going to summon two ultra beasts, huh?!" 

The man chuckled and stowed the devices away. "No, of course not! That wouldn't work in the first place. If you used both Wormhole Rods within range of each other, you would instead be opening a portal between the two destinations, as the tears would merge together almost instantly. A portal is still opened, but it would have nothing to do with the place you opened them, effectively achieving nothing." 

This time, even Ikane seemed to relax, though her eyes were still as wary as ever. "Why would you tell us something like that?" 

"Because I'm establishing common ground, see?" The man held his hands up once more. "My name is Solisano. I used to be a technician in Ultra Megalopolis, the place we're all from. I worked on spacial engineering while I was in the recon squad, and eventually went on to develop these devices for use by our field teams. When the time came that I needed to defect to save our future, I stole back my technology and became an outlaw in my own home. When I inevitably return, I will be welcomed with a thunderous applause instead of the rattling of chains. They just haven't had the foresight to see why yet." 

Ottelia put her foot forward in a rehearsed kind of way and ran a hand through her billowing, shiny hair. "My turn. You know who I am. I was once an anthropologist in a researcher field team, but I had a...'disagreement' with another one of my colleagues, which eventually lead to me getting ejected from the recon team altogether. Those fools would let my skills and abilities all go to waste, until my darling Solisano came and gave me a second chance. He had a vision that they refused to acknowledge, and he needed strong associates to help him carry that goal. Who was I to refuse?" 

Cymon stood at attention as he spoke, still as a rock and about as friendly as one, too. "Cymon, first-response squad 4, unit 6. Without a greater cause, there is no reason to work. I was offered no greater cause by the recon squad, and none better than the one Solisano has offered me. Now, I serve him." 

When it came to be Graci's turn, rather than introducing herself, she held a hand to her forehead and panted. "Hey, do any of you guys got any water? I think I'm dying." Ottelia shot her a nasty look. 

"Uh." Uzume hesitated for a moment, reached down into her bag, and pulled out a plastic water bottle she packed in case it got too hot. She'd been so worried about the letter that she forgot it was even there. She handed it off to the alien with a quick underhand toss. "Here, I guess?" 

"Holy crap, thanks! I wasn't going to make it another five minutes in clothes like this." Graci ripped the cap off and started to gulp down the entire bottle, not pausing for air even once. She tossed the empty plastic over her shoulder and sighed, wiping at her mouth. "Hey. You didn't poison that water, did you? 'Cuz if you did then I'm going to absolutely lay you out flat." 

Solisano coughed. "Graci. Common grounds." 

The woman nearly choked. "Oh! Right, right! My name's Graci, I never made it into the recon squad in the first place. They refused to pass me on the final exam in the academy for basically no reason. But I was fully trained, and I wanted out of that stuffy, fake city! I wanted to see other worlds and learn about the universe, but those idiots just kept me around to cut their losses. Of course I took the first opportunity to get the hell out of there! Believe me, Solisano's basically my savior." 

Hiding her mouth behind an open palm, Ottelia stifled a scoff. "They made her into a warehouse worker because she was too dumb to pass the paper test at the end of academy training." 

"Sssshut up!" Graci snarled back, her fists tightened by her sides. "That wasn't necessary to the introduction at all! You didn't hear me pipe up when you skirted around the fact that you killed someone in the middle of a field mission. Solisano broke you out of prison!" 

Ottelia breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. She closed her eyes. "You know if you weren't an important colleague to this mission I think I would have a 'disagreement' with you." 

"Ah yeah? Try it, sister! I certainly wasn't failing the physical portions of the test! I'm trained and primed to shove your pretty head so far up your-" 

"Well," Solisano began to speak, which shut both of the women up instantly. He didn't even have to shout to get them back in line. The authority he exerted over these people was almost tyrannical. "I think that we're closing in on some good equal footing here. Since we gave away so much about ourselves, I would appreciate if you all stopping hiding. It's only fair that you all should be as transparent as we've been, no pun intended." 

Karao's smile widened at the opportunity. "Well, if you insist! My name's Karao and my pokemon's a Mienfoo named Tenni and we're gonna-" 

"That is not what I meant." The man turned his menacing eyes towards the sky. "I meant the pokemon you use to transform. I know that they're here. They aren't visible, but you wouldn't have come here without them, would you? Reveal yourselves, already!" 

After a very long, very quiet moment, Mesprit materialized out of thin air, hovering protectively over Uzume's head. She glared at the man with wide, unrelenting eyes. Azelf appeared a few seconds later, and then finally Uxie. 

A chilling wind washed through the junkyard, blasting through Uzume's airy summer clothes. A shiver shot down her spine. Whenever all the lake guardians were visible at once, it usually meant a fight was about to break out. It was like they were all pointing their guns at each other, waiting patiently for the someone to fire the first shot. 

Solisano clapped his hands. "Good. That's much better. Now I don't have to feel like I'm being watched from out the corner of my eye. What are those things, by the way? We've been going through pokedexes and we still have no idea what they are. It's really been nagging me." 

The lake guardians introduced themselves one by one, but said nothing more. They spoke with a robotic neutrality Uzume had never heard them speak with before. 

"...Yes? I understand that you can talk, but those are just your names, aren't they? I'm not here for names. I want to know what you ARE." 

"We cannot tell you that," Uxie said in the same way a computer would spit an error message onto the screen. 

A sigh fell out of Solisano's mouth. "Really? And I thought we were past keeping secrets here. Why would your species be so important that you can't discuss it, huh? What are you so desperate to hide?" 

"What's the point of all this?" Ikane butt her way into the conversation before it could escalate in a worse direction. Her knuckles turned white as she clutched at the strap of her book bag. "Why are we just giving out introductions now? Are we supposed to start sympathizing with you, or turn to your cause? We haven't even heard your 'mission' yet!" 

"Oh! You're right. Forgive me, I got ahead of myself," Solisano gave another half-bow, but never took his eyes off the fairies. "You see, we come from a world without light. A city known as Ultra Megalopolis. There is no star in the sky there. The only lights that illuminate our entire lives are the ones we make. Huge UV lamps beam down on us on for twelve hours at a time, a crude substitution for a sun that we use to make ourselves feel like we have a real home. It's an absolute joke! Imagine living your life in a permanent night, constantly looking to the cold white lights in the distance and interpreting it as 'day'? It's no wonder we're so eager to visit other worlds! Once you experience a real star's light, you never want to go back! 

"It didn't used to be this way, though. There was once an ultra beast who resided in the center of our great city, one that could absorb light and shine it down on the rest of us. It was our sun. WAS our sun. My people had somehow managed to harm the creature in their greed, causing it irreparable damage and sending us into a permanent state of darkness. Still, our leaders sit in their high seats and wait for change to come to them, merely hoping that one day their light would return and they would have magically atoned for the greed of their fathers." 

Uxie spoke up in the brief period that Solisano took a deep breath. "So you intend on finding a permanent light source for your city?" 

"That, and more." Solisano grinned from ear to ear. "Come on. You can't tell me that the people leading our city are fit for such a position if they're willing to submit to apathy so easily. They've lived in that darkness all their lives, they don't even know there's anything better! And so they sit beneath their UV lamps in comfort and accept that things are the way they are. Counting your blessings is one thing, but complacency isn't going to bring us anything!" 

"A mad scientist, then?" Ikane said, her arms folded tight against her chest. “Bringing back light will make you a hero so that you can rule the city. That's how you're going about it?" 

The alien shrugged. "If you're going to simplify it so much that it twists my intentions around, then yes. That's what I'm doing." 

"And you intend on using legendary pokemon to do that?" Azelf snarled. 

Ottelia stifled a laugh. "Oh, so you did figure out what I was doing? I certainly wasn't making any intention to hide it. How else are we going to illuminate our city again? Our technology certainly isn't making the cut, and my darling's right about the council. They're too busy pushing their precious squads from world to world to actually get anything done. Did we really need to discover that new species of fungus when we're all already living in a giant terrarium?" 

Uzume's throat was bone-dry. She swallowed her saliva to no avail, unable to say the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Uxie's words echoed in her ears--about their decisions how the fate of the world rested on their shoulders. The lake guardians weren't going to make their choices for them. It was her problem to deal with. 

"I understand your mission," Uzume began, her voice nearly shaking. If she hadn't held her arms down, there'd be a pair of crossed fingers behind her back. "I can sympathize with you guys, I really can! It sounds like your home really needs the extra push, too. I would help in any way I could, but..." 

Fists clenched, Uzume lifted her chin up high and stared Solisano straight in his murderous eyes. "I can't allow you to use this world's pokemon like that! Your city will have to find some other way to get its light back. I'm sorry, but I'm just not going to let it happen!" 

The last word fell out of her mouth like a stone. Uzume stood her ground, refusing to look away or relax her posture, but internally it was like five sirens were going off at once. The following moment of silence tore into her chest like a dagger. Solisano merely nodded his head, but his false grin had changed into a scowl. 

"Well I wasn't asking for your permission," he said, almost in a sad tone. "Actually, I was hoping you would just give up. You guys are formidable foes, you know. That's why I came here and showed you the respect you deserve. You were looking for answers, so I gave them to you. If our cause is just and our meddling is minimal, I thought that would have been enough. It's a real shame it isn't." 

Karao looked like she was about to explode. "So what now? I get that your city's all messed up, but we ain't letting criminals like you run around our world scott-free! What are you gonna do about it? Summon an ultra beast?" 

Solisano laughed out loud. "What, right in front of you? I heard what that blue pokemon did to Cymon when he tried that! As if I'd open a wormhole directly in front of my enemies! That's ridiculous!" His features sharpened like a snake rearing back to bite. "I already summoned one thirty minutes ago." 

A corner of the scrap metal mountain exploded into a horrible, grating sound. A crushed car was split into three perfect vertical slices, sliding away like dabs of butter. A small creature had been waiting behind it--a strange cross between a horrifying origami creation and a living being. The way it moved through the air seemed to completely defy both gravity and the wind that should have been pushing it around. Uzume suddenly noticed that they had been surrounded by perfectly-sliced bits of metal and broken appliances this whole time. 

With a cruel hand extended towards his enemies, Solisano gave the order. "Show me how you've managed to get this far. Kartana, kill." 

Karao happily raised a fist to the sky. "Here's the part I was waiting for!" 

A rainbow of colors spread out across the battlefield. One by one, part by part, they merged with the lake guardians in a storm of lights and sound. To Uzume, the sensation wasn't even jarring anymore. It felt more natural than anything, almost like she had been born just for this one purpose. She wore Scarlet Verity like a glove, and once Mesprit was with her, all the fear and doubt she felt from looking into Solisano's eyes had vanished. Together, they were unstoppable. 

 

"Vessel of Emotion, Scarlet Verity!"

 

"Vessel of Knowledge, Scarlet Acquity!"

 

"Vessel of Will, Scarlet Valor!"

 

Mesprit immediately let out a mental sigh. ' _Thank god it’s over! That was nerve-wracking! I'd rather fight a monster anyday of the week than have to listen to a crazy guy ramble on about his life goals!'_

' _Umm,'_ Uzume trailed on for a moment. ' _I hope you guys didn't, you know, actually want to let them go. I kind of made-'_

' _Stop thinking, Uzume! Thinking is over! Now we gotta lock in our choices!'_ Karao launched forward with a fist high above her head. The Kartana wasn't about to let itself get pulverized, gently floating out of the way before flipping around. Its arm extended to three times the normal length as it slashed back. Ikane was at the ready with a psychic shield, but the creature managed to cleave the barrier in half with just a single swing. It shattered brilliantly into a cloud of useless sparkles. 

Ikane popped her wrists and flew up higher. ' _I can’t block its attacks right! Stay out of its range, stick with distanced attacks. Don't get cut in half.'_

' _Aw yeah, I guess I just won't get cut in half then,'_ Mesprit muttered. Not expecting much, Uzume started to send volley after volley of psychic projectiles. The monster sliced her attacks straight out of the air, inching closer and closer with every slash. Uzume gave up on the offensive just in time for the Kartana to lunge for her neck. She rolled backwards through the air with all her parts intact, but any later and she would have been decapitated. 

"Stop jinxing yourself, Mesprit!" Scarlet Valor shouted out loud. A billowing cloud of flames poured from her hands and engulfed the ultra beast. It pulled away even quicker than it had charged, shaking violently as cinders flew off its body. 

Ikane immediately followed up on the creature’s retreat, weaponizing her barriers like giant disembodied fists and battering the ultra beast with curved psychic walls. It managed to cut down the first two barriers, but three more came down to smash it away. 

The Kartana let itself drift on the wind, moving erratically with the push and pull of the weather. Every attack they missed just sent it even further off course, fluttering around lightning bolts and dipping past psychic blasts. Hitting it was like trying to grab at something small floating around in a pool of water--basically impossible and very annoying. 

Karao predictably grew impatient and charged at the beast with a flying kick. The creature dove behind a rusty piece of sheet metal, which bent inwards like wet clay as Karao drove her heel down into it. 

At first glance, it looked like she would’ve squashed that thing beyond recognition, but that implied the creature had anything to squash in the first place. Instead, Scarlet Valor had just put herself in close proximity of a thing that could cleave entire cars in half like they were nothing. 

Uzume collided with Karao at full speed. They both fell to the dusty ground, but the sheet metal her foot was once embedded in had been chopped up into dozens of shards. The ultra beast relaxed itself once more and flew away with the breeze before Ikane's shielded fists could press it back into the ground. 

Somewhere nearby, Solisano clapped his hands from atop a pile of metal trash. "This really is a show, isn't it? Did you kids know that Kartana are one of the leading causes of field casualties in the entire recon squad? It's not even an aggressive species! I just thought that was interesting." 

After Uzume had untangled with Karao, they both flew off in separate directions. Solisano was right, the emotional aura that surrounded the beast was almost completely neutral. Still, it definitely wasn't just defending itself. That thing was following orders. There was no way Scarlet Valor could endure a single attack from the beast, so draining its will away was out of the question. Since it wasn't driven by its emotions, Verity couldn't do anything to stop it, either. 

' _Ikane,'_ Uzume spoke telepathically while the creature sized them up from a distance. ' _It's under Solisano's control, right? That's the only reason it's even fighting. If we erase the memories of all his orders, it'll probably just go back home!'_

Uxie quickly replied. ' _Perhaps. We would need several seconds of uninterrupted eye contact at the least. Is there any way to hold it still for that long?'_

' _Duh! With my hands!'_ Karao gave them a thumbs-up and winked. Although she just agreed to grab onto a flying, spinning razor blade, her emotions fluctuated wildly between regret and fear. Her face would have never given that away. ' _But you better be ready to hit it with a mind-wipe or you're going to have to pick up all my pieces when this is done!'_

It was a stupid plan, but that was good. Clever plans were just stupid plans that you have too much time to think about. The Guardians broke off in different directions, surrounding the weightless beast from three corners. With nobody in its immediate range, the Kartana continued to drift around aimlessly, waiting for the wind to bring it to its prey. Uzume helped it along with a few wayward projectiles that were never destined to hit anyway. Once it was in Karao's range, she coated her hands in fire and blew a flamethrower straight into the ground. The flames bounced off the dirt and swelled upwards in a massive curling motion, blowing from behind the Kartana and launching it forward with a blast of hot air. 

The ultra beast extended its bladed arms in anticipation, but it was moving too fast already. Karao flew up and nabbed the paper creature straight out of the air. an exact mirror to Tenni grabbing the mysterious letter earlier that day. At least, it was similar until the paper in question started to slash at everything its arms could reach, carving out entire crevices into the dirt. 

"Hurry hurry hurry! Ow!" 

Karao held the creature as far away as she could, turning her head and shutting her eyes tight. Scarlet Acquity stood opposite of her and breathed in deep through her nose. Uzume remembered to look away, putting a hand up to the side of her face for good measure. 

Ikane spoke up from outside of her vision. "Creature from beyond this world, your purpose here is no more! Forget your master as if this were all just a dream! Forget, forget..." 

The ultra beast whipped its head up and froze mid-swing. It stayed in the same position for several seconds, then went completely limp in Karao's hands. Karao dropped the thing the instant it was tame and flew backwards, swearing up a storm the whole way. 

After that, the creature just felt confused. It glanced around with its abstract origami face, vaguely intrigued by the strange life forms that surrounded it. It had absolutely no idea what it was doing here, but it didn't seem to mind too much. 

"What?" Solisano stood up from his tetanus throne with a jolt. "What did you do? Kartana! Get up and cut these girls to bits! You're not finished here! You'll be finished when I say you're- Gah!" 

The creature picked itself up and flew towards Solisano like a shuriken, narrowly missing his legs and slicing through the broken dishwasher he had been sitting on moments prior. The Kartana disappeared behind the piles of scrap, and after a few moments of silent disbelief, there was a loud popping noise in the distance. No more portal, no more threat. 

Uzume felt her grip on Scarlet Verity’s form start to slip away, but she found the strength to hold it together just to point a closed fist towards her enemies. She wasn't sure whether it was her own will or Mesprit’s that had started to speak up. 

"This world and its inhabitants are ours to protect! No matter if it's a random person on the street or a pokemon with incredible powers! As long as your heart is evil and your intentions corrupt, you'll never get us to break! You should remember that, Solisano!" 

The malice that he had been hiding behind his confident expression was out for all to see. To Uzume, it manifested as a horrible crimson aura, twisting around his body like a wildfire. 

Solisano stood up straight, narrowed his eyes towards her, then turned away. He climbed over the junk mountain and disappeared to the other side. His cohorts quickly followed suit, with the exception of Graci, who gave Uzume a friendly wave before hopping out of sight. Their footsteps faded into the distance, as well as the chilling aura that followed them. Scarlet Verity gave a very deep, very long sigh, then split apart into two beings. 

As it turned out, getting hurt in Scarlet Guardian form did transfer damage over to your real body. Though it wasn't too serious, Karao was practically covered in little cuts and scrapes. It looked like she tried to wrestle with a drawer of steak knives and somehow managed to lose. It didn't seem to bother her all too much, though. 

"Well, Karao?" Ikane began, having mostly recovered from the fatigue of transformation. "There's that fight you wanted. Was it worth all that waiting?" 

"Eh, it wasn't bad. Quite a bit more talking than I expected, though. How’d you like that trap?" 

“Much less frightening than I expected. It was actually pretty...enlightening. That’s the word I’d use to describe it, yeah.” 

Karao rolled her sleeves up and stretched her arms behind her head. "I really don't like that leader guy, to be honest. The way he smiles is all wrong. I bet he had way more of an ego problem before he became an outlaw in his own home. I'm glad Uzume told him to screw off!" 

Stuttering, Uzume felt her own confidence melting away. "Ah- I mean- I hope that's what we all actually meant to say together, cuz it just kind of slipped out..." 

"Hey, what did I say about doubting yourself? You were definitely right!" Ikane shot her a quick smile, though her eyes were still tired. "If anything, you were too sympathetic with them. I still can't believe you didn't even hesitate to give Graci that water bottle. It's like you weren't even playing sides at all. I almost expected Ottelia to walk over and knock that bottle straight out of her hands." 

Karao tried to clap Uzume on the back, but quickly winced away and glanced at the cuts on her hand. "What else would you have expected from a Scarlet Verity, though? I feel like Uzume's the kinda girl who would save Rockruff puppies from a house fire and get home just in time to bake cookies for some orphans." 

"I've had a Guardian who ran an orphanage before!" Mesprit flew down to chime in. 

"That one was actually nuts, though," Azelf added. "Real nice and all, but she would have literally taken a bullet to protect a flower bed. Put some emphasis on being alive, you know? It's easier to protect things when you've got at least a pinch of self-preservation to work with. Karao, you hear that?" 

Rubbing at her eyes, Uzume shook her head. "Okay, now you guys are just playing it up. I just gave someone water and said some words that felt kinda right at the time. I didn't really contribute during the fight, either." 

"You saved my life," Karao immediately replied. 

"Hey, that’s-That's normal stuff! Anyone would have done that if they were in my situation!" 

Uxie drifted past, floating on his back through the air. "You are Scarlet Verity for a reason, you know. You’d think that it’s harder for Azelf or myself to pick a Guardian from how this has all played out, but Mesprit's truly the pickiest of us all. I have never seen a Guardian she's chosen defect or go back on their ideals. You are, in essence, the most reliable hope for the future." 

As if she was reading Uzume's mind, which she probably at least partly was, Mesprit swooped in. "You know what, Uxie? Maybe you shouldn't be saying so many scary things so often! Like jeez, what if the fate of the entire world didn't rest on their shoulders for a few minutes, huh? The only thing that's actually been in danger so far was a library and a bunch of cars!" 

The yellow fairy shrugged. "Ah, you're right...Perhaps I'm just used to taking these things a little too seriously. I suppose these villains haven't been doing too much harm as of yet." 

For once, Uzume felt something other than dread after hearing about the responsibilities of Scarlet Guardians. In fact, her growling stomach made it clear to everyone. "...Oh crap. Maybe I should have actually had something for lunch, huh? I guess it's too late in the day now..." 

"No way! The meal before dinner but after lunch is called luncher and you can't tell me it isn't!" Karao exclaimed as she pulled Uzume out onto the dirt road. "Come on, let's go have luncher someplace! Fighting always make me hungry!" 

"Luncher is absolutely not a real word and never will be!" Ikane shouted as she chased after them, struggling not to laugh. They ran off down the road, dust clouds at their heels. The lake guardians disappeared into broad daylight once more.


	5. Hidden Powers Revealed! Believe In Yourself, Dummy!

The only evidence that morning had come was the dull blue light that filtered in from the warehouse's high windows. If you listened closely enough, you could faintly hear the flocks of Starly chirping outside. Aside from that, though, you could hear a pin drop from all the way across the building. A majority of the city was still sound asleep, and the ambitious criminals who had hidden away amidst the crates and containers of this place were no exception. 

The only one who was awake at this absurd hour was the same one who brought them here in the first place. Solisano paced back and forth beneath the flickering white light, his head filled with a torrent of thoughts and worries. He was always pacing, and his lips were always moving, silently mouthing the plan that was unraveling itself inside his head. 

Solisano glanced up towards the morning light, then back down at the faded yellow warning lines that he had been following along with for the past ten minutes. Each day was a ripe new opportunity, but he wasn't a fool. This freedom they had stolen had an expiration date, and he was counting down the minutes that slipped away. Somebody had to have been coming for them. If not now, then absolutely later. It was only a matter of time before their freedom was revoked. 

A shuffling noise faintly echoed off the hard concrete floor. Ottelia emerged from the darkness a few moments later, still fiddling with her hair now and probably will be for the next half hour. Her fatigues might as well have been street clothes by how proper they looked. She leaned against a crate in the far edge of the industrial light. "Pacing already? It's like you never went to sleep at all, darling." 

"I did. It was enough," Solisano promptly replied, grinding his teeth in concentration. "Yeah, it'll have to do. If I slept any longer I would be wasting me time." 

Ottelia sighed out her nose. "Careful, you're going to carve a rut in the floor with all the planning you've been doing. Have you come up with that breakthrough we're on the cusp on discovering?" 

"No, no, but we're so...so clossse!" Solisano let the final syllable roll off his tongue for a few seconds longer, as if a vital thought was escaping him and he was doing his best to hold onto it. "Your research. Tell me again about the leads again. I need to hear it." 

"You're always so forward, dear. Straight down to business... ugh, it's too early in the morning for this..." Still working a brush through her hair, Ottelia stuck her free hand beneath a blue tarp and withdrew a dented black binder. She flipped through loose papers and articles for a few moments before stopping on a cramped page of notes. 

"Here. The highest order of deities I could find of this region, and in general, are a duo of pokemon that are supposed to govern some pretty major laws of nature. They're said to control flow of time and fabric of space respectively--though the chances that those pokemon existed is astronomically low. On the chance they did, their legends and worship may have blown them completely out of context. There was also talk of an 'Original One' that created those two beings, but I have a hunch that one's more of a human concept." 

The young man's brow furrowed beneath the intense light. "We don't have all our lives to get this right. Hunting down an almighty god and forcing it to do our bidding isn't going to happen, but at least it's a place to start. If it comes down to it, I'd rather chase fantasies than nothing at all." 

Ottelia continued. "There were another three higher beings who govern spirit, but I mostly ignored them for the two that dealt with physical matter. It's worth noting that those three are supposed to be able to control the bigger two. A little lower on the priority list, I read about an ultimate ancestor, a few deities of weather, two on dreams and nightmares, and a handful of nature gods. Not to put a damper on your plans, darling, but I feel that rummaging through ancient history isn't going to get us much closer to-" 

"Wait!" Solisano interrupted, not looking up from the yellow lines. "There's more clues here. We're looking in the right direction but in the wrong places..." He whipped around, mouth half-open to say something that wasn't quite ready to be said yet. 

"Of course I know how useless this all seems!" he finally said. "We already go to hundreds of different worlds, all with hundreds of different creatures that could all almost do something you could almost describe as godlike! What's going to make this particular world any different? It's the same trash as always! If we didn't have our own star before, what could Earth possibly have that changes that fact?" 

Silence fell. Ottelia glanced nervously around the warehouse, hoping that she wouldn't have to actually give an answer. "I- That's what we've been looking for. To complete an impossible task, we would need an impossible tool. It'd be careless not to look over the most obvious places. I wish this place had more legends associated with its sun. It's been a horrible chore even getting this far." 

Another lap around the warning lines. Solisano knocked his fist against the side of his head. "No, no, no! There's something different here! Go back and tell me what you've learned about the three pokemon that those girls have been using against us!" 

Looking more and more confused, Ottelia finally put down her brush and turned through the dozens of pages of research. "But I hadn't learned anything...I've scoured through as many written pokedexes as I could find from every region and there's still nothing exactly like them. Things came close, but none had the ability to merge with a person like that..." 

"It's like they don't exist, right? They're not even on the radar, like they're one of a kind," Solisano started to raise his voice, a wild look in his eyes. "Look back on the deities you've already collected on. Remember that pair of three that was just below time and space? I seem to recall you going on about how the transformation was more 'spiritual' than parasitic. Who governs spirit, Ottelia? Which of all those possible legendary pokemon could possibly do something as fantastical as fuse with a person?!" 

The vain woman feverishly scanned the papers in her hands. "Are you seriously suggesting that there are living legends who are actively helping school-age girls interfere with our plans?" 

"It's just like you said! It's careless not to look over the most obvious places!" Solisano struggled not to shout in his excitement. "Look, maybe I'm just grasping at straws here. Maybe I sound totally nuts. But what if I'm right, though? Did you not say that those three were able to control the ones who rule time and space? Just their existence makes it more likely that such demonstrably powerful creatures even exist in the first place! And if they do, then what do you think happens if WE take control?" 

Ottelia lowered her binder. "...Then we'll have the key to our light, won't we?" 

Solisano let out a hysterical laugh, clapped his hands together, and finally stepped away from the line. "We're betting on a percentage of a percentage! For this to work, there's entire layers of hunches that have to be correct--but if we're right after all, then we're skipping straight to the top of the food chain! To hell with hunting, the key to controlling gods has literally been coming at us on a silver platter!" 

"What's with all this YELLING going on?! I was trying to sleep!" Graci screamed as she emerged from the shadows. Her fiery hair was an absolute mess and her fatigues were all crooked. 

"Go ahead and sleep, then!" her leader shouted back. "Sleep all day and night, I don't care! You're only going to miss the sheer glory of when we conquer gods and bring light back to our home! Get yourself together and fetch me that map you made of the city! Not the first two, I want the one that's actually accurate!" 

Graci started to protest, but instead groaned and slumped off back into the darkness. With a sigh of relief, Ottelia brought her hair brush up to her head and began to fuss over every wayward lock once more. "I love it when you're brilliant, you know that?" 

"And I love it when dependable people give me the results I need to be brilliant. Now fawn over me later, will you? We've got plans to make and Scarlet Guardians to capture." With that, he went right back to the striped yellow line and got to pacing. 

 

  


_____

 

Ikane intensely eyed the game board, glanced back down at the rules for a few moments, then shook her head. "Illegal move, Karao. Again." 

"Aw, who cares?" Karao replied, leaning back into the couch cushion. "What are you gonna do, arrest me? It's a board game! Nobody says 'illegal move', anyways!" 

With a sniff, Ikane reached over and moved Karao's piece back to the previous square she was on. "I do, and you're more illegal than a poaching group in Orre." 

Uzume glanced around her living room, kicking her feet against the couch while waiting out yet another shouting fight. This was supposed to be a twenty minute board game and they were running on twice that time--mostly because Karao hasn't read the rules at all and Ikane has almost exclusively read the rules. It wasn't so bad since the game wasn't actually that fun anyways. It was more amusing to watch these two dweebs duke it out over an extra two spaces of movement or a wrong card. She turned her eyes to Tenni, who looked back at her with a face that said something along the lines of 'Yeah, I know. Just let it happen'. 

Before the verbal combat could be resolved, Uzume's mother came around the corner with an armful of drinks and set them down on coffee table. "What the heck are you guys playing in here? It sounds like you're arguing about politics." 

"They are," Uzume answered, nabbing one of the lemonades. "It's Meowth Catwalk 2. There is half a page of rules and the box says it's for ages 8 and up, but now we're discussing the ethics of fair play in competitive sports because Karao won't stop skipping ahead spaces." 

Karao put up her hands. "Nah, I'm fine now. I just like the blue cards the most, anyways." She took her drink, put her lips to the straw, and proceeded to down half the glass in less than ten seconds. Karao sighed like she had just found an oasis in the desert after having wandered for days. "Jeez, this is super good! Thanks, Mrs. Uzume's mom!" 

Ikane took much smaller sips of her lemonade, savoring it as much as she could. "Wow. It's...actually amazing." 

"Thanks! The secret ingredient is lemons! I can make more later if you guys want." Uzume's mother began to walk away, but not before shooting Uzume a smile that specifically said, 'I'm glad you've found friends to hang out with during summer and aren't too depressed that Sakuya left, and also I'm here to support you if you need anything.' 

Uzume said nothing, but returned the smile with a look that said, 'I appreciate that you care, and are out for me in case I need it, but I would also appreciate it if you left more quickly because the bonds between young girls is a delicate thing which requires careful management, and it's impossible to foster with parental figures in the immediate vicinity.' 

Meanwhile, Karao greedily sucked down the remainder of her lemonade until there was only bits of melted ice at the end of her straw. She had the most satisfied look on her face. "Mhm. Yeah, that's pretty high up there as far as lemonade is concerned. I'd say I've only had like...two kinds that were better than that, and I guarantee that they costed three times as much." 

' _Lemme have a sip!'_ Mesprit whined telepathically. Uzume's straw started to shift around mysteriously. The liquid in the glass began to drain slightly for seemingly no reason at all. ' _Wow! Uxie, what's in there? Where do I get more of it?'_

' _What? It's just ginger,'_ the fairy muttered in a way that perfectly projected the image of him shrugging. 

"Oh. _just_ ginger, huh?" Uzume said, raising an eyebrow towards the ceiling. "My mom only makes lemonade during the summer, and only a handful of times. I don't care if it's just ginger lemonade, it's specifically my mom's ginger lemonade! There's none other like it in the world! It’s the best specifically because I say it's the best and that's final!" 

The room was filled with the sound of a straw desperately trying to suck up the bottom of a glass. “She’s right, dude," Karao muttered. "This stuff's bomb. You gonna finish yours, Ikane?" 

"Don't even think about it," Ikane snarled, protectively holding the lemonade to the side of her face. 

Karao turned to Uzume with pleading eyes. She just smiled in response. "You drank yours too fast. The only way you're getting this cup is if you pry it from my cold, dead hands." 

"Aagh, whatever! I'll just ask for more later!" Hands flat against her cheeks, Karao glanced back down and stared at the mess of cards she had created. A groan fell out of her mouth. "I feel like we weren't really playing this game for fun, were we?" 

"Nah, you really weren't," Uzume said, drumming her fingers on the arm of the couch. "I mean, it sure beats running around alleyways looking for Rattata and aliens." 

"Well I mean-" Ikane trailed off for a few seconds. “It's just that the whole town’s been looking for them, too, and as far as we know nobody's found anything. It doesn't make sense to spend all our time searching when there are actual official search parties out who can go into twice as many places as us, and have currently found zero evidence anyway." 

' _I’ve been looking every day and haven't found any of them, either,'_ Azelf added. ' _Those bastards know how to hide, I'll give them that.'_

Karao just shrugged. "Hey, I sure don't mind. We do a decent enough job of stopping their plans as it is. They probably aren't gaining much from sitting around and hiding all day, so that's on them. You know what? I bet they're wasting time right this very second!" 

The lights went out with a click. Uzume blinked at the darkness, her eyes gradually adjusting to the faint light provided by the dusk as it filtered in through the window. Everyone was silent in the moments that followed, all up until Uzume's mother exclaimed in confusion from the other room. Nobody really knew what to say. It was like their brains just kind of turned off along with the lights. 

' _Nice job, Karao,'_ Azelf murmured. 

"What?!" she sprung to life once more. "How is this my fault, huh? Just because I jinxed it doesn't mean I did it! If we're going by that logic, it's your fault because you're the only one of us that can shoot lightning!" 

The shadows on Ikane's face deepened as her brow furrowed. She looked to the lamp, and then to the inky void that used to be the hallway. "I don't think a circuit blew, otherwise there'd still be power to other parts of the house. From where I'm sitting, it looks like the street lights outside are out, too. I think it’s an actual blackout." 

Uzume hummed, tapping a game piece against the board in thought. "That's...interesting, I guess? I've never had a sleepover where the power went out before. Makes it kinda hard to see, though. What are we supposed to do in the dark?" 

"Tell scary stories! What else?" Karao said. 

"The power might come back on fairly soon," Ikane suggested instead. "It may just be a smaller problem from somewhere down the power line, like a fallen tree or some faulty wiring. It would only take an hour or two for utility teams to get on that." 

"Plenty of time for scary stories!" Shooting up from the couch, Karao swept the board away and dumped the pieces haphazardly back into the box. "Uzume, lets go to your room. I’m not even going to try being scary in the middle of a living room." 

"I dunno about campfire stories, but I don't have have any better ideas, sooo..." Uzume bit her tongue as she glared out the window into the waning violet light. Maybe she wasn't fine, actually. Something felt off about all this. 

Maneuvering through the dark hallway wasn't a problem for her, but for her friends it was like stepping into a black void. Her room wasn't that much better, but there was at least enough visibility to get by. Uzume welcomed everyone into her room, shut the door, and immediately jumped up onto her bed. 

What was this foreboding feeling, though? Like, besides the fact that it was so dark. Usually she liked it when the power went off, too. Mom was probably bringing out the candles already, and if dad weren't at work he'd probably start making dinner on that little camping grill. Why does it feel nasty now, of all times? 

"Oh my god, dude," Karao leaned over Uzume's desk, squinting against the dark at the portrait hanging proudly on the wall. Tenni copied the motion, but quickly got bored and glanced elsewhere. "That is actually probably one of the best portraits I've ever seen. Not even kidding, I've seen a lot of professional artists make portraits that were just soulless drawings of people. That's soul right there." 

Ikane tilted her head, focusing in on the drawing as much as she could in the dull light. "I feel like I've seen this somewhere before. The last page in the sketchbook, maybe?.." 

"I mean, you've probably just seen her before in person. That's basically a perfect rendition of Sakuya, who Uzume has hung out with every day since they started to exist on the astral plane of the universe. She- ah," Karao shot a glance over to Uzume and grit her teeth. "She kinda moved away just before summer started. Ssss-Sorry..." 

Uzume stared out the window. "You don't have to skirt around it. That's just the truth. I’m glad I don't have to explain it myself." A chuckle built up at the bottom of her throat. “That really is the best drawing I have ever made. I don't think I can do any better.” 

“I've seen enough to know you can,” Ikane commented as she glanced at the rest of the desk. “Your newer drawings of the lake guardians are getting especially good. You really do have the talent for it.” 

Karao kept glancing up at the portrait. “Yeah! You think your mom had perfect ginger lemonade the first few times she made it? Be a little more optimistic!” 

“You're still thinking about the lemonade?” Uzume giggled, tilting her head forwards to see the sky. The stars were out in full force, blending into glowing clouds of distant white dots and misty light. Half the sky was still a greenish blue from the tail end of sunset, yet she could already see entire constellations glistening away. It was breathtaking to say the least. 

"Hm." Ikane crossed her arms in thought, then glanced out the window at the sparkling sky. Rather than letting herself get lost in the sight, she sucked in a small gasp. "Wait. the stars are out." 

"Yeah. I like it," Uzume muttered. 

"It's not that," Ikane said as she crawled up onto the bed and glared even harder at the sky. "The stars are OUT. There's no light pollution. the galaxy never gets this bright in the middle of the city, especially when it's not even totally dark yet. I think the whole city is going without power right now." 

"That may be the case," Uxie commented. Having turned visible at some point, he flew up to the crowded window, which seemed a little weird considering the fact that he doesn't use his eyes in the first place. 

Karao poked at the lamp on the desk, clicked the cord a few times, and hummed. "So? Maybe somebody slipped on a banana peel and smashed the controls at the power plant. At least everyone else has to deal with it, too." 

In the darker corners of the ceiling, Mesprit flew in a nervous circle. "I've got a really bad feeling about this." 

 

After a few uneasy minutes had passed, a vibrating hum filled the room. Karao let out a surprised chuckle and pulled a phone out of her sweatshirt pocket. "Hah! I never get texts! It's probably just my mom wondering if I died from swinging on power lines." Her face was shrouded in light as the phone came to life, projecting the shadow of her head onto the back wall. She let out a disappointed sigh. "Dang. Just an amber alert." 

"Really? About what?" Ikane asked, setting down the stuffed Poplio she had been poking at. 

"It just says to stay indoors. Doesn't really seem like that much of an emergency, now does it? Obviously people aren't going to be walking around in-" Karao's phone emitted another buzzing sound, flashing white as the screen illuminated her face once more. She paused and read the second text. “Hey! This one’s from Maylene. All gym members brown belt and above are to report to blahblahblah street... What? Bring your fighting team and supplies? Prepare for the worst?!" 

Uzume slid off the bed. "What street?" She glared into the blinding light of Karao's phone, reading over the message twice before the pulling away. The rock in the pit of her stomach seemed to double in size. "That's in front of the power plant, guys! Something's actually happening there!" 

"I knew it!" Mesprit shouted, whizzing by Uzume's head. "Cities don't just suddenly have all their power break all at once! It's an ultra beast, I know it is! They wouldn't have called half the gym over if it wasn't!" 

Azelf brought his hands together as if he were landing a punch on something, but it sounded so tiny and cute that it wasn't intimidating in the slightest. "Then let's go deal with it, then! Every moment of hesitation brings them closer to realizing their plans!" 

“Dang it, why now? My mom's not going to like us sneaking out," Uzume muttered to herself, fiddling with the locks of her window and opening the glass pane upwards. A gust of cool air rushed in, carrying the smells of cut grass and sun-soaked dirt. "I almost guarantee she's going to try to check on us eventually, and she's going to find an open window and an empty room, sooo...." 

"Uxie mind wipe!" Karao cheered. 

"No," Uxie replied. 

Ikane zipped up her coat and nodded. "Well there's two more of us involved, so we'll try to take as much of the blame as we can...As long as your mom doesn't call my dad. You know what, I- I'll do the best I can." 

Karao tapped Tenni on the top of the head and beckoned him towards the window. "Dude, if your parents talked to mine at all, they would all totally buy that this is my fault, and I don't even care about consequences. Just pretend to be peer pressured and you'll be golden." 

True to her nature, Karao looked like she was already an expert at climbing out windows in a silent manner, landing on the other side with a faint thud and letting Tenni drop onto her shoulders. She glanced around the immediate area and gave a thumbs-up. 

The rest of them had a much less graceful time clamoring through the window, not that it really mattered once everyone was finally out on the grass. The lake guardians flew through and took off into the sky, becoming silhouettes against the deep blue before disappearing entirely. Uzume's heart really started to pick up the pace once they took off. 

It occured to Uzume that she had never seen the city at night without any lights. Even with the stars out, the moon was too far into its waning phase to provide much visibility, and apparently towns were almost pitch black without the help of streetlights. She could barely see her own feet, much less the sidewalk five feet out in front of her. She heard her friends more than she could see them. It was pretty obvious whenever she stepped off the curb or tripped over themselves. 

"You know, I'm way more night-blind than I thought I was," Ikane spoke up as they crossed over an empty street. 

"I think you're just blind in general," snickered Karao, who immediately nearly tripped into a sapling on the other side. 

' _You're fine, this is the right way. Keep moving at this pace and we will arrive at the power plant in a few minutes,'_ Uxie said, briefly becoming visible so the glow of the red gem on his head could guide them along. 

For as difficult as it was to get around like this, Uzume couldn't help but admire how beautiful the sky was like this. The way that all the buildings and trees were silhouetted against the glow of the stars was incredible. One corner of the horizon seemed slightly brighter than the others, though. It seemed like there was at least some place that still had power. Probably had a generator running or something. 

Uzume squinted at that distant light for a moment longer and noticed that it had a slight wavering quality to it. That slight pulse then turned violent, to where half the sky was suddenly illuminated by a series of intense flashes. Everyone stopped in their tracks to look up, but before anyone could speak, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. 

"Holy crap," Karao gasped. 

Uxie blinked a red light from across the street. ' _We should hurry.'_

The flashes only grew stronger the closer they got to the power plant. The sound of explosions carried over the distance and rolled over them like waves, and soon enough they could hear the rest of the fighting. Commanding shouts mixed with the crack of thunder. Hollow metallic thuds and ear-piercing scrapes filled the air. Police sirens droned on through it all. 

Smoke had started to fill the sky, which Uzume only figured out once the stars began to disappear behind a thick blanket of black. The bordering fence of the power plant came into view, as well as a small portion the chaos that had erupted just beyond it. Most of the fight was concealed behind several small buildings and grids of electrical systems. The cries of pokemon fighting for their lives rang out into the night. There was another creature mixed in with those sounds, and it was certainly not a pokemon. 

The lake guardians carried them over the fence in the matter of seconds. Uzume still hated the feeling of being moved around with telekinesis, but that distaste was thoroughly buried beneath the adrenaline that shot through her veins. She could already smell the ozone in the air, which was somehow more pungent than the stinging scent of smoke. 

"It's too late, they're already fighting," Uzume managed to say once everyone had touched down on the other side of the fence. "We have to get in there! Someone's going to end up dying if this keeps up!" 

As they started to sneak through the web of transistors and wires, the fight took a turn for the worse. The deafening roars of a high voltage explosion tore into her ears, completely overwhelming the sirens and drowning out the shouts of whoever was just attacked. 

Uzume felt her whole body tense up. Someone really was going to die, weren't they? The feeling that welled up in her chest wasn't just made out of terror. It was a mix of desperation and duty, clawing at her heart. She had to stop this. She was the only one that could. 

They finally got a good look at the ultra beast. The monster was massive compared to everything they've fought up to this point. At first she just thought it was a random tangle of wires and lights, but the mass stretched up twenty feet into the air and let out a horrible howl. Its head was a featureless, sparking mess of spikes, electricity bouncing from point to point and arching upwards like fire. Its body was a mess of cords and wires that seemed to snake through every nook and cranny within the power plant below it. A streak of fire shot across the sky and nicked it where its neck would be, followed by two hurled stone projectiles that had missed their mark. 

Uzume was just about to say something when a huge pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her head and neck. She was yanked backwards in an instant, the arms nearly crushing her from their sheer strength and size. She kicked and clawed and fought against her attacker, but it was like they were made out of iron. Her fingers caught on a material that felt almost ceramic, and it was then that she realized that she knew what the armor reminded her of. It was a recon suit. 

"Hey! Uzume!" Karao was motioned to rush forward, but her assailant tightened their grip around her neck in warning. Uzume coughed, prying uselessly at the forearm that was choking her. 

"Don't move," the brute commanded from above Uzume's head. There was no doubt that it was Cymon. 

Mesprit materialized out of thin air. "Let her go, you overgrown idiot!" 

"Why should he?" another voice announced their presence as they emerged from the shadows. Solisano stepped forward beside the massive man. He cracked his knuckles and gave a sinister grin. "We're already this close to our goal, why let go of our bargaining chip?" 

Karao and Tenni took on matching stances, but didn't move an inch closer. She had to shout just to speak over the battle that was happening less than thirty feet away. "What do you mean you're close to your goal? We have nothing to do with you or your stupid city's light! Just let her go and screw off before I come over there break all your flimsy alien bones!" 

"What? You don't know?" Ottelia's haughty laugh came from behind where Ikane had been standing. She and Graci revealed themselves at the same time, surrounding them from both sides. "Perhaps your little helpers didn't tell you. I can't imagine that they would have, otherwise your loud mouth would have given it away too early." 

Ikane narrowed her gaze, not even bothering to turn her head to look at Ottelia. "How about you keep quiet while the people who matter are speaking, murderer?" 

A wild scowl flashed past Ottelia's face, breaking her facade almost instantly. Solisano bellowed with laughter all the while. "Ha, that's great! I've never seen anyone get under her nerves that quickly before! That's exactly the kind of energy I would want out of my enemies! That's why it's really such a shame that your little oath of resistance is about to end in a few minutes. Once you hand over the lake guardians, that is." 

"Why would I ever hand Azelf over to you?" Karao screamed, her knuckles white from how tightly her fists were clenched. "Why would any of them let themselves be handed over, for that matter? How stupid do you have to be?!" 

Even while the battle raged beside them, Ikane looked deep in thought. "You called them the lake guardians..." she gasped. "You've figured out who they are." 

"We did!" Solisano announced proudly. "It was a lot easier when they refused to give us a species, to be honest. That's when I knew they were trying to hide something. Not only do we know what they are, we've also figured out the kinds of powers they wield. That is exactly why you're about to lose them, in fact. Of course THEY wouldn't be able to bring us our light, but with the Red Chain, well who's to say what we can and can't do anymore?" 

"Red Chain?.." Ikane muttered to herself, the sound of her words buried beneath a mountain of noise. Her eyes suddenly widened, revelation flashing across her face like the bursts of light that came from the battle. "Red Chain? How did... The thing that controls Dialga and Palkia? The lake guardians have that?" 

Graci chuckled. "What's the matter, girlie? You look like you just realized the oven was still on when you left the house!" 

"Somebody here, monologue on whatever the heck the Red Chain is!" Karao shouted above the crack of thunder. 

If Uxie had used his eyes, he would have been glaring at Solisano so intensely that the alien would have forgotten he was even born. "The Red Chain is the power we were given to calm the masters of time and space. It’s the key to keeping order in case the beasts ever become enraged. They want to use us to control those gods, forcing them to make their city a source of light." 

Solisano rubbed his hands together. “A keen observation! I would expect no less from the being of knowledge itself. I’m flattered that creatures such as you would take it upon yourselves to try and stop me, I really am! It’s very convenient for me.” 

"So what?!" Azelf's tails flicked wildly behind him. There was a visible distortion in the air, almost as if he was giving off so much psychic energy that light itself was starting to bend. "You're not the first ones to come up with that plan, and there's no way in hell you're going to be the last! One thing you'll have in common with them all is how dead you'll be when I get my hands on you!" 

"Ah!" Solisano raised a finger, Cymon gripped harder. Uzume choked weakly, digging her fingers into the polymer armor and pulling as hard as she could, but to no avail. 

Everything was starting to hurt. She could barely even breathe anymore, and struggling just used up what little oxygen she had left in her lungs. Looking at her friends through teary eyes, she wanted to hit herself more than she wanted to hit Cymon. Nice job, idiot. You let yourself get caught and ruined everything. 

"Let her go," Mesprit was practically pleading. "Please. You don't have to hurt her anymore." 

But Solisano kept his fist in the air. "First, you. We have three pokeballs, but they're a little empty right now. If they don't get filled up soon, I'm afraid something terrible might happen to Uzume here. You don't want that, do you?" 

Dammit! Uzume tried to think of anything--any possible way to get out of this mess. She closed her eyes and listened to the shouting nearby, but could only hear how frightened everyone was. Crashes and bangs, resounding so loud that it seemed like the whole world was cracking apart. Her ears were ringing even in the silent periods. The air smelled of live wires and burning. She was supposed to put a stop to this. Every moment she wasted being a hostage, there was another chance that someone got hurt or died trying to fight off the ultra beast. 

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she couldn't tell whether it was from the strain or the situation. What made the lives of the pokemon and people out there any less important that her own? 

"Hurry up and transform," Uzume croaked out, sucking in as much breath as she could. "Go fight the monster. People are getting hurt." 

"We're not leaving you here!" Ikane put her foot down. 

She pulled down on Cymon's forearm, lifting herself into the air uselessly in the process. She didn't want to die. She really wanted to live, but there was something else writhing around in her heart besides the will to survive. It was like a kind of heroism or something--too difficult to understand, but absolutely intoxicating. She would do anything to defy these villains. At this very second, her life could mean more than the entire world. 

"You have to! Don't even think- Ngh!..About giving them what they want! I'm not even that useful to you guys! You can always find another Scarlet Verity!" 

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Mesprit nearly lunged forward before catching herself. She looked like she was about to burst into tears. "You aren't replaceable! You're the only Uzume, and you're the only person that I want as my Guardian! There's none other like you in the world!" 

Solisano tapped on his wrist. “Can you kids hurry this up? I'm starting to get impatient, and your police are doing is just pissing that Xurkitree off even more! I’d give this place about five more minutes before it gets completely leveled!" 

There was a pressure in the back of Uzume’s ears. ' _Get ready to run. Don't do anything else but run,'_ Azelf said. She almost forgot that the lake guardians even had telepathy for a minute there. 

Karao pointed an accusing finger and screamed. "You're a total idiot, Uzume! You forgot that self-sacrifice was already MY thing! I oughta clock you across the face for trying to take it, but I got important business with the dude behind you!" 

It all happened in a split second. Azelf lifted his arms and brought down a bolt of lightning right above Uzume's head. Cymon recoiled a bit, but by no means had he let go of her. Both Uzume and the brute were utterly stunned from the attack, however. When she could finally see again, Karao was already kneeling down with Tenni running up behind her. 

"Combination attack: Jawbreaker!" 

Cymon knew what came after that phrase. He wasn't wearing a protective helmet, as his had already been decimated beyond repair, so he did what any sensible person would've done and dodged right the hell out of there. In his haste to not have his jaw broken, his grip had loosened around Uzume's neck. 

When her feet hit the ground, she immediately took off in whatever direction came first. However, she only managed to make it a few feet away before Mesprit disappeared straight into back. Tingling energy surged through her arms and out into the tips of her fingers, glowing a bright pink against the harsh darkness. The power soothed her fresh bruises and replenished her aching lungs. She gladly let it in. 

 

"Vessel of Emotion, Scarlet Verity!"

 

"Vessel of Knowledge, Scarlet Acquity!"

 

"Vessel of Will, Scarlet Valor!"

 

The three of them took to the air. The relief that Uzume felt crashing through her system was unlike any she had ever felt before. It was probably a combination of both Mesprit's and her own, to be fair, but it was incredible nonetheless. Neither of them exchanged any words upon fusing together. Everything that needed to be said had already been said. Now was the time for action. 

They all turned and stared down at Solisano. Although it wasn't audible, Uzume saw a sigh fall out of his mouth as his shoulder slumped. "Fine! Have it your way! Just don't expect any amount of negotiation the next time one of us has any of you pinned down! Xurkitree!" 

Despite all the projectiles that whizzed by the ultra beast's massive, glowing head, it turned towards the sound of its summoner's voice--and towards the Scarlet Guardians in particular. It did not seem very happy, especially considering the massive wrathful aura that swirled around it. 

"Blast them to pieces!" 

The creature let loose a screech and turned two of its massive cable-arms towards the girls, spreading apart dozens of copper fingers in a menacing display of arcing electricity. Before it could attack, however, a flickering blue light trailed along its writhing tendrils on the ground. A Lucario jumped up onto one of the metal electrical boxes, placed its hands on one of its many legs, and blasted a hole straight through it. 

However much the Xurkitree wanted to follow Solisano's order, it was still preoccupied with the pokemon that were already battling it. Ironically, they wanted the ultra beast by itself. Too many combatants meant more useless suffering. 

Scarlet Acquity flew down to where the battle was thickest, holding her arms wide in what wavering light there was. "Everyone, get away from here! Call your pokemon back! We'll handle the monster!" 

A few people took the opportunity to run off, recalling their pokemon as instructed. A majority of those who fled seemed to already be wounded. Many of the others just looked confused, however. 

Maylene herself stared up at Ikane from atop one of the metal boxes, heaving with effort. "Who are you? WHAT are you? What do you mean you'll handle the monster?" 

"It'll be a piece of cake!" Scarlet Valor crossed her arms, casually floating by on her side. “Trust me, this isn't the first time we've dealt with something like this! We'll just take it from where you left off!" 

The monster swept through a series of power poles behind them, which resulted in a domino effect that crashed straight towards them. Dozens of live electrical wires flailed through the air. Ikane threw her hands forward and conjured a barrier to protect the four of them. Three of the wires that would have taken at least one of them out instead whipped at the psychic wall, discharging enough power to cause the whole thing to shimmer. 

Maylene seemed more surprised than anything. "What...are you guys?" 

"We're the Scarlet Guardians," Uzume said, her heart beating right out of her chest. "And you have nothing to worry about anymore." 

The Xurkitree had found its targets. It swung its massive arms across the sky to strike at them. Uzume took off into the cloud of smoke above, a hail of psychic bolts raining down from her fingers. Ikane dodged around the first massive cable and blocked the second, her shield nearly buckling back into her. Karao, in her utter desire to show off in front of Maylene, attempted to catch one of the arms as it flew into her. After being pushed back about twenty feet, she really did manage to slow the thing down enough to hold it in her arms, but the best she could do to retaliate was blow it away with a blast of flames. 

Sparks showered down from the creature's featureless head as it roared. Massive snapping sounds and electric buzzing filled the air. The Xurkitree had begun to uproot itself from the city's power system. White flashes of electricity illuminated everything, all the way up to the fog of smoke that lingered above the plant. Its two arms became four, and soon after became six, each with hundreds of horrible metal digits that were practically exploding with rampant power. Then the creature decided that it didn't particularly like Karao all that much. 

Within seconds, lightning bolts were flying by Scarlet Valor's head. Between the swinging arms and the wild electrical attacks, she barely had any time to breathe, much less counterattack. There was no way she would last long in a situation like that, even if it was Karao. Someone had to take some of that pressure off. 

Armed with her dinky-little projectiles, Uzume flew past the beast's head like a jet pilot, unloading salvo after salvo into its unnatural body. Even if it didn't seem to do much damage at all, it was enough to take the attention of at least two of its arms. The ensuing problem was that now she was the one dealing with two giant swinging electrical arms. 

Her shields were not nearly as strong as Ikane's, so she didn't even think about blocking. Even just he wind that was displaced by the cables as they flew by felt like a typhoon, knocking her flight patterns completely out of whack. She tried to fall back out of range, but it wasn't quick enough. A bouquet of copper wires rushed from the end of the Xurkitree's otherworldly arm and wrapped around her. 

White-hot pain surged through Uzume's body. Every last one of her muscles locked up, seized by the voltage that ran through them while in the monster's grasp. She didn't know how many seconds she was caught, but it felt like an eternity had passed before the damn thing finally let go, letting her limp body fall to the ground with a thud--not that she really felt the impact. Her senses were dulled and dazed, and the pain continued to burn on as if her nerves were still catching up. 

' _Verity, are you dead?'_ Karao spoke telepathically, but it still sounded like it was coming from a mile away. 

' _Almost,'_ Mesprit groaned from inside her head. 

Uzume's legs refused to function, but she did manage to levitate herself back into the air. Still recovering from being flash-fried, she hardly noticed the yellow dome that had appeared above her head, which shimmered and rippled as arcs of electricity danced over its surface. The Xurkitree reared up to bring three of its arms down onto the shield, but a blue streak shot across the sky and collided with its upper body, knocking the creature off-balance. 

"Come on, wake up!" Scarlet Acquity shouted over the overwhelming cacophony. “You’re not getting out of this that easily! I’m not about to explain to your parents how you died!” 

"I-I’m fine!" Uzume screamed back, setting herself upright in the air. She wasn't really all that fine. The shield went down, and both Guardians shot off in opposite directions. The ultra beast raged on, having smashed up most of the city's delicate power system and drained any residual energy that might have been left within. It had to have been weakening at this point, right? So much damage had been done to it already. If Uzume could do anything besides cause her friends trouble, this thing would have toppled over minutes ago. 

Scarlet Valor soared across the sky like a blue missile, unloading fireballs into the monster's head and knocking away its cable arms with a surprising amount of ease. Scarlet Acquity was an impenetrable fortress of golden lights and shapes, curving her shields in such perfect calculated angles that the flailing arms glanced harmlessly away, then turning around to bash the Xurkitree with the same shield as if they were just extensions of her fists. And what could Uzume do? Fly around and plink at it with her little bullets until it got mad and flicked her out of the sky. 

' _You're being a big dummy!'_ Mesprit suddenly spoke up. ' _This isn’t how Scarlet Verity should be thinking and you know it!'_

"Well what else am I supposed to do? This is all I got!" Uzume shouted back, punching her projectiles out at the maximum distance possible, far away from the actual monster. It never felt much more than annoyance at her efforts. 

' _No, it's not all you got! It's all you think you got! The only reason we're so weak is because that's all you expect ever out of us! You don't even know how strong we really are!'_

In a split second, Ikane had accidentally let her guard down and attracted the attention of the monster. Her shields nearly shattered with ever blow, but there was no chance to escape. Uzume saw the opportunity to accomplish something of worth and moved in for the diversion, but as soon as she got in close, the Xurkitree saw the easier target and changed its mind. 

It may have freed Scarlet Acquity, but Uzume was back in the same position as before, barely dodging the copper fingers that were shocking her from just being nearby. By some sheer stroke of luck, she managed to get out of range before the monster could land a solid hit. At least it had helped. 

Mesprit was still furious. ' _Uzume, listen! You have to focus! Scarlet Valor gets her raw power and Scarlet Acquity gets her crazy mental calculations, but Scarlet Verity's are all somebody's mom's ginger lemonade! The way you think and feel will absolutely determine how much strength you have! I can't believe you have the right sense of duty and STILL don't believe in yourself!'_

"Well what am I supposed to do?! Believe in the power of friendship? Shoot bigger lasers?" 

' _Yes!'_ the fairy cried out. ' _Do those things! Stop being a baby and actually believe in yourself for longer than twenty seconds! Pretend you've just figured out that you're lucid dreaming or something!'_

Uzume groaned. "Fine!" she said, taking such a deep breath that it hurt the muscles in her back. She looked down at her fists, closed her eyes, and wondered what the heck Mesprit even meant. 

That thought process was quickly interrupted as Karao's shriek cut through the night. She looked up and saw Scarlet Valor plummeting out of the sky, trails of electricity and smoke rolling off of her body. Ikane instantly moved to intercept, but her shields were quickly grappled by hundreds of live copper wires, making it impossible to move forward without risking the same fate. A metallic ring echoed as Karao slammed straight into one of the power boxes. The Xurkitree moved in to finish her off. 

There were mere seconds to spare. In the brief moment that Uzume had as she flew directly towards the hulking beast, she concentrated on nothing more than using her strength to stop it. It was in that moment of desperation, rushing forward to save her friend's life, that she had completely forgotten how weak she was supposed to be. 

Scarlet Verity swung her arms forward and threw out a barrage of psychic bolts. These ones somehow twisted through the air like tracers, locking their trajectory onto the creature's head and striking one after the other. 

By this point, Uzume had already zipped straight past the ultra beast. She whipped around and fired off another volley of homing missiles before she finally came to a stop. The projectiles didn't seem to do any visible damage, but for some reason she could very clearly feel Mesprit’s excitement. Were they not supposed to just do damage? 

...Somebody's mom's ginger lemonade? It's...all in the way she thinks? 

Uzume raised her arm high up into the air, closed her fist as if she had grabbed onto something completely intangible, and threw that fist down so quickly that she ended up inverting herself mid-air. A tingling feeling rushed from between her fingers, all the way up her arm, and intensified in her temples. In the span of milliseconds, she suddenly realized what it meant to have faith in her powers. 

"Future Sight!" 

Every little point that the homing bolts made contact with the Xurkitree, each negligible bit of damage that hardly scratched the thing, began to shine brighter and brighter. The creature reared its head up high to let out a roar, but was interrupted by the twenty individual explosions that had erupted all across its body. The resulting shockwaves hit like a truck, shaking her to the core. 

The ultra beast's lights went out. With its electricity totally spent and its body thoroughly damaged, the Xurkitree limply collapsed onto the shattered remains of the power plant. 

It went silent for a very long time. The howling wind filled the empty space, and everything was still. Uzume wasn't in quite in disbelief. In fact, she just felt kind of stupid. It was like she had been staring at the final move of a puzzle for an hour, only to realize that it was far simpler than she had made it seem. After all, these powers were what she made of them. That was their strength. 

' _Uzume?'_ Karao's voice appeared in the back of her head. ' _Hey, what did you two just do to that thing? Can you do it again?'_

' _We need to calm it before it gets up again.'_ Uxie interjected. Not that it seemed like it was going to do that anytime soon. 

After a few more bated moments, Scarlet Verity flew down to the creature's side, A tiny part of her was deathly frightened to be so close to it, but the rest was adamant that this thing was absolutely down for the count. She placed a hand on its head, winced away from the small shock it still managed to give her, then just decided to touch its weird cable limbs instead. Closing her eyes, she felt the frustration and wrath trapped inside the unconscious beast's mind, swirling like a raging storm despite its motionlessness. 

"Relax. It is done," Uzume said in tandem with Mesprit's will. "There's nothing left to fight over. Give up your rage and return to your home in peace. Let go, let go..." 

It took a short while, but when the beast finally did manage to wake up, it immediately began to slink off towards the south end of the plant. The Guardians merely watched as its massive form melded into the darkness until it was nothing more than a few blinking lights. There was an almighty popping sound that carried over the distance. 

A group of the trainers that fought with the beast had gathered nearby. They shined flashlights in the direction of the Guardians, staring in awe at the girls. Maylene stepped forward before anyone else, closely followed by an exhausted-looking Lucario. She eyed the three girls with a combination of gratefulness, amazement, and wild curiosity. 

"You- you guys actually did it...How? What are you people?" 

Azelf spoke up in their minds before anyone could answer. ' _We don't have time for the after-party. I can't maintain this form for much longer. We need to get out of here. Now.'_

Uzume tried to think up something witty and cool to say, but she felt that cold, hollow sensation creeping up from deep within her chest. She didn't have long, either. Rather than parting with something mediocre and crappy, Uzume just took to the sky and flew off into the night, leaving the gym leader behind. Ikane followed her shortly after. 

"Later, Maylene!" Karao said, leaving the scene last. Probably not the best idea to be so transparent about it, but it probably wasn't that big of a deal. They all zoomed off into the shadowy solitude of a nearby alley and split into their parts once more. Even with that horrible fatigue crawling up her throat, Uzume felt more than satisfied. 

 

  


_____

 

It was funny. Having been held hostage not an hour ago, Uzume found that having to confront her parents was way more terrifying than her life being threatened. She must have waited at the front door for at least two minutes before Karao elbowed her in the side, coughing softly. 

That wasn't what finally spurred her on, though. Uzume felt a light pressure on her shoulder, like a tiny reassuring hand. She came to the assumption that it was Mesprit gently guiding her towards impending doom. At least someone was attempting to be encouraging. 

She opened up the door very slowly, hoping that maybe her parents wouldn't be around to notice. They'd have the all-clear to run off back to her room and pretend they never left in the first place. This unfortunately wasn't the case. Within a matter of seconds, Uzume's mother was on them like a rabid Poochyena. 

"There you are! Where have you BEEN?" Uzume's mom squeezed her in a tight hug, then immediately pulled away, holding her at the shoulders. "What were you kids even thinking? Why would you ever want to go out in a blackout like this? What if something happened to you guys?! Who knows what kind of creeps could have been walking around at a time like this!" 

Uzume paused and wondered what would have happened if someone really did try to mess with them, but quickly settled on the idea that Karao would have just judo-flipped them. She opened her mouth to come up with whatever flimsy excuse she could, but was quickly interrupted. 

"Yeeeah...That's my bad," Karao admitted with a moment of hesitation, bowing her head the whole time. "I wanted to see what the town was like without any streetlights, but I didn't wanna go alone, so I brought them along. And also snuck out the window. I mean, you probably wouldn't have let us go, so I figured that we'd just...leave without you noticing. Sorry." 

Her mother sighed. "I'm just glad you're all alright. You shouldn't be doing that kind of stuff in the first place!..Look at you guys, you're all covered in bruises!" 

"Oh!" Ikane stuttered out. "It was-uh, very dark! We didn't bring a light so we just kept falling down and crashing into stuff! That's how we ended up looking like this!" 

Uzume quickly added to the explanation before it could be questioned at all. "Yeah, it was kind of a dumb idea in hindsight. I don't know what we expected to happen." 

A sudden aura of menace filled the entryway. Uzume forgot that she only just left the pan and was about to jump straight into the fire. 

Hesitating to turn her head, she bit her tongue and sheepishly glanced over towards her father. He hadn't even taken his coat off from work yet. His left hand pulled at his beard in thought while the right was hidden away in a pocket. He glared down at her with narrow, accusing eyes. She recognized that look as the kind that said 'You are in so much trouble right now but I don't know what to say yet so I'll just keep staring at you until you feel bad about what you did.' 

Even Karao seemed a little shaken. "U-um, I'm sorry about putting Uzume in danger, Mr. Uzume’s dad. I promise to never do it again!" 

"I will literally do anything for you to not tell my father." Ikane was wearing a straight face, but it looked like she was about ready to get on her hands and knees and start begging. "There is nothing you can put me through that would be worse than him knowing. I will clean this entire house with a hand tied behind my back." 

Uzume’s father stayed silent, probably thinking about what kind of punishments to give them at this rate. For whatever reason, there was slight distortion behind his head, like the way heat waves rose off of the street when it was sunny out. 

Uzume blinked, wondering if it was just an illusion from having walked through the darkness for so long. When the illusion faded away, something strange started to happen. Her father's eyes had lightened considerably, and his body language seemed to relax, as well. It was as if the frustration he'd been holding in his broad shoulders had suddenly evaporated away. 

"Was it really all that interesting out there?" was the first thing her father actually said. 

"Um. Not really...?" Uzume managed to say. "It was cool at first, but after a few minutes it was basically just like closing your eyes during the day." 

"Well now you know," her father declared before letting his coat fall off his shoulders. "Now that that's all done, I'm getting the camping grill. I'm freaking starving, and nothing's gonna be open without any power." 

Before anything else could happen that would ruin this streak of luck, Uzume and her friends slinked off back to her room and swiftly shut the door behind them. She immediately collapsed onto her bed and sighed with relief, her sore muscles aching for a rest. Karao let Tenni out of his pokeball and slid down the wall in the same movement, slumping over onto the carpet. Ikane at least sat down in Uzume's writing chair before completely she completely zoned out. 

It had been a long time since she had a night as exhausting as this. The fear of having to confront of her parents was apparently the only thing keeping her going this whole time. Now that that was gone, she felt like a punching bag. 

"What the heck was that, Mesprit?" Azelf spoke up from somewhere nearby. Uzume didn't bother to look up. "Our powers are supposed to be reserved only for when we truly need them. Is a single set of Guardians going to go by without you breaking the rules?" 

Mesprit replied from the other side of the bed. "Hush! We're the ones that makes the rules, anyway! Just consider that one a freebie if you're gonna be so upset about it. It's the reward Uzume gets for finally figuring out how to use her powers. Of course I'm not just gonna mess with people's emotions for no reason!" 

Karao let out a weak chuckle. "See, Uxie? You don't need to be such a stingy jerk with your memory eye lasers. There are definitely practical places you can use those!" 

"Changing someone's mood and changing someone's memories are not morally comparable," Ikane answered for her fairy in the exact same way that he would have replied, same voice and all. 

"Super lame," was all Karao could whisper before nearly falling asleep on the spot. Turns out they didn't even need the spare air mattress--not that Uzume was conscious enough to care. Within the next minute or two, she was out like a light.


	6. The Fight is On! Karao's True Strength!

Today was possibly the gloomiest summer day Karao had ever seen. The sky was practically suffocating on grey clouds, with little hope for the blue sky to poke through anytime soon. And without any help from the sun, the wind felt twice as cold, rushing up her sleeves and generally making everything nastier. Despite all this, Karao was more pumped up than ever. 

Ikane, however, didn’t feel quite the same way. 

"Come on! Uzume already said she would go!" Karao pleaded with her, leaning so far over the back of the bench that she nearly tumbled over it. "I know there are other ones that happen throughout the year, but none of them are as important as this one! Come ooooon!" 

"A tournament?" Ikane let the word roll off of her tongue. She set her book down in her lap and turned halfway around. "Why would there be a tournament? The whole gym’s been preoccupied with searching for Solisano’s crew, right? This isn't exactly a great time to host a competition." 

Karao threw her hands up in the air. "Well duh! Don’t ask me! That's just what Maylene decided on her own. She’s the boss, so nobody questioned it when she said that the tourney’s still on. I mean, it’s not like they’ve accomplished anything with that search, anyways." 

Ikane stared off into the distance, tapping a knuckle against her bottom lip in contemplation. "What kind of tournament is it, anyway? What makes this one so special?" 

"What makes it so special? It is _the_ tournament! Two versus two, trainer and pokemon both out on the field, the total sum of personal skill and training expertise! Why do you think Tenni and I even have combination attacks? Hold on, lemme show you how Pencil Sharpener Lariat works. Tenni!" 

Karao turned to face the Mienfoo, but there was nobody behind her anymore. Her shoulders immediately slumped with disappointment as she scanned the immediate area. Tenni was a good distance into the park already, slowly cycling through fighting stances in the middle of the field. 

"Hey! Furball!" Karao shouted to her pokemon. "What do you think you're doing over there? If we don’t lay down the sickest combination attack right freakin’ now then Ikane’s not even gonna bother coming! You can work on your form later!" 

' _He's rusty. I'm teaching him some basic kicks for you,'_ Azelf answered. Now that the fairy had spoke up, Karao definitely noticed a slight bit of distortion in the air around Tenni’s limbs, guiding him through the movements of the stances. 

"But I need him to-!" Karao stopped herself. "Wait a minute. What are you telling him? Is it a new technique? Azelf, teach me whatever your teaching him! My chances of winning definitely go up the more styles I know!" 

Uxie chimed in telepathically. ' _You should be refining your current technique, Karao. Fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks, but the man who has practiced one kick-'_

"Hush, you freaking nerd. I'm trying to figure this out." Karao ran up and immediately began to follow along with Tenni's precise motions, tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration. "I bet you're just jealous that Azelf knows more about martial arts than you." 

From somewhere nearby, the fairy audibly huffed. ' _Actually, I know of twenty two major styles, along with one-hundred and forty three branching techniques that come from all across the world.'_

' _Yeah, but he's still not coordinated enough to actually use them,’_ Azelf snickered. ‘ _I've been using these tiny arms and legs to beat the crap out of things since forever...But he's still right, though. You need to focus on mastering the techniques you have. Discipline is the most vital part in gaining strength.'_

Karao blew a raspberry towards the sky. "I never said I wouldn't master what I got right now! What's wrong with learning new stuff, anyway? Wouldn't knowing about a style help me counter it later? Ikane, come on! I’m right, right?" 

"I mean, in a broader, less stupid sense then sure,” Ikane said with a shrug, her foot idly tapping against the bench’s leg. “Knowing how other techniques work would probably help a lot. Still, aren't you being a little too ambitious about it?" 

"Hmph. Aren't you, miss rocket scientist?" 

The tapping stopped, but there was no response. Thoroughly satisfied with her comeback, Karao continued to go through the motions of the exercise. It was a stupid thing she had said, sure, but that didn’t make any less of the truth. Gym leaders have to live up to their word. If she was going to be one of them, she better damn well act like it. 

At some point, Karao’s practice kicks had become too energetic for her own good. Stumbling over herself, she sat down in the grass and let the anticipation that was stuck in her chest fizzle out. "I already know about the ten thousand kicks thing. Everyone knows that. I just want to do well in the tournament is all. I’ve been so busy with this Scarlet Guardian stuff that I haven’t had any time to prepare for it otherwise. I need all the help I can get." 

Ikane opened her mouth, but Karao cut her off. "I already know I can't use Azelf’s powers to help me! I wasn't going to ask him!" 

"...I was going to say that I would be okay with going." 

Karao choked. "What? Wait, really? But I didn't even show you the combination move yet! And I mean, wouldn’t you have something better to do than watch me? Like, don’t you make your own homework or something?" 

“Do you not want me to go?” Ikane tilted her head. 

“No! I mean- the other no! Yes! Do come to the tournament!” She wanted to smack herself in the face for how much she was stumbling over herself. This was supposed to be a simple thing, quit making it such a big deal. "I- uh, just didn't want you to miss out! Just making sure you’re there to witness my incredible run. Best in class, you know." 

God, she was so lucky Mesprit wasn't around. 

Ikane shot her a suspicious glare, but allowed it to drop as a sigh fell from her mouth. "Fine. When's it at, then? I have to be home before dinner." 

"It's at 3!" Karao quickly answered. "At the gym--not that it would be anywhere else. I don’t know how long it’s supposed to last but I’ll make sure to blast through it. Ain't that right, Tenni?" 

The Mienfoo had been staring at a Scolipede on a nearby tree the whole time. He looked confused, but pumped his arm in agreement anyway. 

Karao flicked him on the top of the head. "Doofus! This is our big day, you could at least act like you're excited about it! Winning means we’re like two years closer to kicking Maylene out of her dumb office! Let’s go get ready so you stop spacing out. See ya there, Ikane!" 

Thank god that conversation was out of the way. Karao took Tenni by the hand and rushed off, unable to suppress all the anxious thoughts that swam through her head. Who was she going to have to take on first? What was she supposed to eat before these kinds of things, again? Was she even supposed to eat at all? Did she have time to look up whether she was supposed to eat anything? 

' _What's up with you?'_ Azelf's voice appeared in the back of her mind. ' _You almost never lose your cool like that. Are you really that shaken up?'_

"No way! I breathe competition like Magikarp breathe water! That’s not even an issue!" Glancing towards the grey sky, Karao tried to puff her chest out and strut like she was walking up to accept her trophy, but quickly gave up.. "I just wasn't sure whether Ikane would want to come is all." 

' _Why wouldn't she?'_

"Cuz I'm pretty sure she hates me." 

' _Does she?'_ Karao could clearly visualize Azelf’s confused expression. ' _I haven't noticed if she does or not. I don't really pay any attention to those kinds of social politics. That’s Mesprit’s deal, not mine. I’m certain Ikane at least tolerates you, though, otherwise you wouldn’t both be Scarlet Guardians together.'_

Karao shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right." 

Still, she didn’t want to just be tolerated. That’s not what being friends was about at all. She didn’t want to be fawned over, either. More than anything, she just wanted Ikane to believe in her. If someone that smart and talented genuinely thought she could win, then that would probably be the biggest sign of all. 

"Tenni!" Karao suddenly shouted. "We're running two laps around the block, right now!" 

The Mienfoo groaned, then sprinted to catch up to her head-start. 

 

  


_____

 

"Graah! I can't take it anymore!" 

Karao dropped to the dojo’s floor and began to do push ups as fast as she physically could, only counting the first ten before she just marked each rep with an exasperated obscenity. 

"Karao, knock that off!" Uzume shouted above her. "You're gonna be too tired for when the tournament actually starts! Just keep doing your stretches!" 

She let her arms give out and just laid there on the ground for a few moments. As good as it felt to exert herself, it didn’t do much to scratch the itch altogether. "I can't help it! This wait is killing me, I swear to god. It's been like this for hours." 

And if the wait didn’t manage to kill her, the suffocating crowd would surely finish the job. The only spot in the entire building that wasn’t packed full of people was the big battlefield in the center of it all. Not only was this event a big deal for the gym, but the whole town got hyped up about it too. Even if the stands were full, the tournament was televised for anyone who would watch. All the more reason to do well. 

“It’s too freaking hot in here...” Karao muttered, tugging at her dojo uniform. She scanned the countless spectators that dotted the gym and wondered if any of them really understood how much today meant. Dozens of trainers and pokemon spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in preparation for this, and half of them were going to be crushed within the first round alone. No matter how hard you train, only one person's efforts were going to matter in the end. This was just how it was. 

"Uh. You alright?" Uzume poked her in the shoulder. "You look like you're about to puke. Do you need some water or something, cuz I could go get some?" 

Karao shook her head, breathing through gritted teeth. "I have never been more fine than I am right this second!" 

Mesprit spoke up. ' _You don't seem very fine to me. If you don’t find a way to step back and take a breather, you’re totally gonna have a heart attack.'_

"What, am I not allowed to be excited now? I’m going to be on TV and everything! This is the first year I’ve even been able to enter the tournament!" 

Ikane blinked at her in the same way she read the lines of a book. "There are people who have been entering this competition for years and have never made it to round three. I looked it up. You sure you’re going to win?" 

"Huh? Who do you think you're talking to?" Karao stuck her chest out and sneered, silently motioning for Tenni to do the same. "I told you, I’m the best trainer in my age group in this gym! I've beaten people halfway through their league circuit! Tenni's a top-of-the-line breed of Mienfoo that was hand-picked from the best Mienshao in all of Unova--probably from Marshal’s own pokemon! Of course we're going to win!" 

"Then do it.” Ikane crossed her arms. 

"Fine! I will!" 

Karao stormed off into the crowd, fully aware that she wasn’t mentally prepared for this at all. Her teeth were clenched tight behind her falsely confident smirk, and the feeling of her heart pounding away was unignorable. She found her way to the contestant’s seats, sat herself down in an empty spot, and glared at her prospective opponents out of the corner of her eye. Tenni didn’t even seem worried--the little screwball! He just slumped right down at her feet and waited without a care in the world. 

A few agonizing minutes passed. The surrounding chairs were filled to capacity before long. The audience had formed up in the stands and quieted down. It wasn't long before Maylene herself took the stage with a microphone in hand. She went through her whole introduction spiel, not that Karao was really listening. She didn’t have the capacity to care for anything other than the rules. First trainer to be incapacitated three times, by either the other trainer or their pokemon, was the loser. That’s the only information that mattered. 

The first of the fights began shortly after the speech ended. Two stoic guys stepped up onto the battlefield, one with a Monferno and the other with a Medicham. Karao watched the match with unrivaled intensity, carely picking apart battle strategies and combat maneuvers as if her life depended on it. In the end, the Monferno trainer managed to speed past the other's defenses, and ended the match 3-1. The whole thing only lasted a few brief minutes, but it felt like it took an eternity. 

Several more fights went by, each with their own unique twists and turns. Karao was so lost in a sea of thoughts that her own match came up right when she least expected it. Tenni was the one that knocked on her knee to snap her out of the trance. Together they made their way through a maze of chairs towards the battlefield. 

' _First match. Loosen up a bit,'_ Azelf spoke into her head as she walked. ' _Remember your basics.'_

"Psh. I know how to fight," Karao muttered under her breath. She stepped up onto the wood platform and shielded her eyes from the bright lights that hung above the center. Briefly scanning the crowd, her gaze eventually caught on Uzume, who was almost invisible in a sea of faces. She cheered on, waving her arms in the air like the ceiling was going to collapse. Surprisingly enough, Mesprit was completely out in the open and sitting in Uzume's lap like nobody would notice. 

Then Karao saw Ikane. Even from this far, she could see that expectant glare bearing down on her like the desert sun. She could practically hear Ikane's voice in the back of her mind. 

"Do it, then. Win. I'm waiting." 

Her opponent wasn't too much older than her. The boy appeared about a grade or two above her, a head of sandy hair and a nervous glint in his eye. She couldn't quite tell whether it was from the pressure or specifically from having to fight her, but she liked to think it was the latter. His partner was a Croagunk who looked more bored than anything, as if it had been forced to participate in this whole thing and just wanted to go home. Overall, this guy really wasn't intimidating at all. Piece of cake. 

They exchanged bows, as everyone always did, while Maylene announced both their names. Karao felt the fear swirling around in her chest start to drain away as she took stance. All the parts after this came naturally. It was the wait that always killed her, but when she was finally up on this stage, staring her opponent in the eyes, watching their determination flicker in the tiny twitches of their face--things became very simple and clear. She found herself smiling again. 

The round started just as explosively as she liked. The poor guy didn’t see her coming until she had already grappled his upper arm, kicked his legs out from under him, dodged the Croagunk’s attack, and came down on his chest with an elbow. Tenni didn’t even have to lift a finger. In a matter of seconds, the first point had already been decided. 

Her opponent was much more cautious the second time around. The Croagunk postured forward to take on her full-offensive strategy, but was forced to back off when Tenni came to divert its attention. The boy managed to hold her off for a few moments longer before he was inevitably outsped and tackled to the ground while his Croagunk fended off its own attacker. Two to zero. 

It took until match point for the boy to throw off his anxious look and meet Karao's glare head-on. After some brief strategizing with his pokemon, the final round began with him mirroring her charge towards the center. They collided with a flurry of blows while the Croagunk came from behind. It managed to get a good blow on her side before Tenni knocked it away, catching her off guard for a split second. The boy tried to take a point of his own, but she steadied herself and reversed the attempt. Match. 

When Karao left the platform, she was absolutely beaming. The fear that had been building up in her all day was finally gone, and in its place pumped a raw energy that made her want to punch something hard. Not even the cameras could phase her now--just like how a future gym leader should be. 

The next few battles went by in a flurry. Before Karao knew it, her second match was already upon her. It seemed like no time had passed at all before she saw her name come up on an electric screen. She cracked her knuckles, stretched her arms, and beckoned Tenni to follow along. The Mienfoo didn’t look bored anymore, but rather meditated and calm. He nodded as they climbed the steps once more. 

Her next opponent was a young woman who looked like she might fit in as a secretary or something. She had an unassuming face, and her black hair was tied back in a messy bun. But for as normal as she looked, the Breloom standing at her side meant that she wasn’t a fledgling trainer by a long shot. If this boring-looking lady was in the second round, she probably had a secret weapon, too. 

The match began with far less aggression than the first. As soon as Tenni went in to take care of the Breloom so Karao could make a move, its ballistic arms shot out four feet and nearly clocked him in the head. There was suddenly a massive invisible circle of danger that went way farther than arms could reach, and her opponent knew that. The secretary lady just smiled and took a few careful steps forward, all the more confident because of that. 

Karao took one look at the trainer, then turned and lunged for her pokemon instead. The Breloom launched a few rapid punches before she could close the distance, one of them landing squarely in her thigh. Her stance wavered enough for the lady to come in for the kill. Tenni intercepted the woman, but she grappled the unsuspecting Mienfoo and tossed him straight into Karao's side. They both tumbled across the hard wooden platform, then Karao felt a stern forearm press into the back of her neck. Nothing to one. 

Now Karao was mad. The pain she felt from the last round, no matter how minor, just spurred her heart to pump even more adrenaline into her system. Obviously her opponent wasn’t going to leave the protection of her pokemon. They would just have to take care of it, then. The plan was simple and brief, but Tenni seemed more than eager to try. 

When the round began, they split off in different directions and charged in from both sides. The secretary braced herself against Karao's coming attack, but with a bit of footwork she slipped past the woman entirely and tackled the Breloom while its back was turned. Tenni bounced off her shoulders as she pinned the pokemon to the ground. Though Karao didn't see it, she heard the thud from Tenni's kick, then a body hit the floor. One to one. 

It seemed like the woman didn't really recover from that blow in time for the next round to start. She was too sluggish to completely defend against Karao as they collided and lost the point within seconds. The Breloom didn't even have a say in the matter. Now she knew why the secretary lady was playing so defensively for so long. For as great of a trainer as she was, there was only so much her pokemon could do on its own. 

The fourth round started just like the second, with Karao and Tenni taking off in their respective directions. Of course, the same trick wasn't going to work a second time. This wasn't going to be the same trick. 

"Combination attack!" she shouted at the top of her lungs for the whole audience to hear. The electric feeling in her muscles wove its way up to face and manifested as a huge smirk. Tenni instantly knew what the plan was and closed in to distract the Breloom. Karao herself made a sprint for the woman in the middle of it all. She looked prepared for anything Karao might do--wide stance, careful gaze, the whole nine yards. What she wasn’t prepared for was Tenni’s right arm in her lower back as he dodged past the Breloom. The force of the impact pushed the woman's weight into the beginnings of a backwards spin, which would have normally been very easy to recover from, had Karao not brought all her momentum down onto the secretary’s chest with an outstretched arm. 

"Pencil Sharpener Lariat!" 

Three to one. The crowd let out a cheer that trickled into her ears like a river of smooth honey. 

Karao returned to her seat with the biggest smile. That was the first time she'd been able to use that move in an actual match, and it was the perfect situation for it! And it was so much more tournament legal than Jawbreaker, too! How about that, Ikane? Were you still doubting how far she could go now? 

...Yeah, Ikane probably was. For as flashy and effective as that move was, this wasn’t wrestling. This was real combat. Showy tricks weren’t going to get her to the finals. If anything, Ikane might have thought it was stupid to even try. Karao took a swig from her water bottle and scowled at the floor, the flame in her heart flickering dangerously at the thought. 

She couldn't afford to lose now. 

The third fight came around far slower than the second. Matches started to take longer as more experienced fighters were paired together. There were less fatal mistakes, but way less room for error. The intensity in the air had somehow doubled since she last sat down. This was only her first year, but some of these guys were on their tenth. How on earth was she supposed to match up to that? 

It felt like Karao had swallowed a boulder by the time her match was up. Tenni managed to nudge her out of her seat, but the seeds of doubt were already planted on the way up. Could it have been a fluke up until now? Was she about to lose in front of Ikane? In front of everyone? Was she honestly all that good compared to most of these trainers? 

Her opponent was immediately familiar. Standing before her was the boy with the Monferno from the very first match of the entire tournament. An unreadable expression was stuck to his face. The two of them exchanged robotic bows and settled into their fighting positions. She didn’t dare glance up into the audience this time. 

The round began. The boy barely moved, but the Monferno had taken off towards them like a rocket, its eyes locked solely on Karao. She could barely defend against its incredible flurry of blows, much less actually retaliate against it. Watching this strategy unfold was one thing, but actually fighting it was completely insane. 

Tenni tried his hardest to get the Monferno's attention, but the opposing trainer got to him first, trading pokemon for trainer in the engagement. The Monferno allowed to room to counter and no quarter to breathe. Karao felt her rage grow with every blocked strike. Once the anger numbed her bruised forearms, she finally had enough and started to swing right back regardless of what came at her. 

They traded blow for blow, over and over, bearing through the pain with sheer will and practice. Suddenly, without any warning, the Monferno had somehow grappled onto her shoulder, swung her around with its body weight, and brought her to the floor with a skull-shaking thud. She didn't make any mistakes. There wasn't anything more she knew she could have done. It was just over in an instant. Nothing to one. 

Karao must have swore beneath her breath a dozen times as she stood up for the next round. They couldn’t let that Monferno have its way this time. She and Tenni stuck especially close together as they approached. Like before, the fire type launched at them with unbridled fury, but it was more predictable this time. After a brief exchange, Karao managed to catch the Monferno by the leg and launched it straight at its trainer. 

The Monferno had no problem bouncing off the kid and getting back into the fray, but he definitely didn’t expect it. Even though Karao still had to deal with the Monferno herself, Tenni saw a chance to trip up her opponent and score a free point. The Mienfoo moved in to capitalize on the opportunity, but was unexpectedly bested and thrown to the ground. Karao tried to disengage, but got caught by the same move that had downed her before. Nothing to two. 

By this point, the confidence in her heart had long since faded. She was going to lose. It was clear to see in her opponent’s emotionless eyes. There was nothing there but reaction and execution--the kinds of eyes that she only imagined masters could have. The kinds of eyes she wanted but didn’t have. 

When the final round started, Karao performed the only move she still had faith in. Her and Tenni ran off in separate directions, circling the boy at a wide angle around the arena. The Monferno tried its best to chase her down, but desperation was faster than fury. She could hardly even feel her bruises anymore. 

"Combination Attack!" Karao shouted at the top of her lungs. It didn't matter whether her arms and legs fell off afterwards, she was absolutely going to take him down at least once. She braced herself and rushed towards the center. "Pencil Sharpe-” 

The kid lowered his head and bashed her chest with his shoulder. No other sounds left her mouth. She fell, her back landing hard against the wooden floor, where she then laid motionless as the seconds oozed by like molasses. Why even get up? What was the point? The stage lights burned into her vision, bearing down on her like a thousand tons of water. 

When Karao finally stood back up, she didn’t even think. She jumped off the platform, eyes to the floor, and ran. Ran as fast as her legs could carry her. 

 

  


_____

 

The dark clouds had finally fulfilled their gloomy promise while Karao was inside. A cold rain sprinkled down on the city, stirring up weeks of dust and dirt and leaving a musty smell in the air. She burst from the gym doors and took off into the horrible weather without a care. She didn't know where she was running, or even what to feel right now. The world blurred by like a bad dream, and the faster she ran, the less she had to think. 

It shouldn’t have even been a problem, right? It was just one loss in a dumb tournament that didn't even matter. It's not like she didn't do well. Of all the people that enter that competition, only one's ever going to win in the end. That's just how it works. 

Oh god dammit, was she actually crying over something like this? 

Karao ran until her lungs screamed for her to stop. She must have made it a quarter of the way across town before she finally came to a stop, leaning against some metal railing that lined the top of a concrete wall. Gasping for breath, she stared over the ledge at the busy street below, packed with hurried cars like red blood cells in an artery. The asphalt glistened as headlights passed over newly-formed puddles. To everyone else, it was a normal day. Same old routines, same old transit, same old lives. They didn't even know. 

"This isn't very gym-leader of you," Karao muttered to herself, blinking at the raindrops trailing down her face. No gym leader would run away crying at the first sign of defeat. Only stupid kids ever did things like that. It’s no wonder Ikane hates her. She was smart enough to recognize Karao for what she actually was. A stupid kid. 

A shudder suddenly rushed down her spine. Karao forgot her woes as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. There was something very, very bad standing behind her. Twisting around, she saw a man approaching her, his massive gait seemingly covering yards at a time. His heavy clothing did nothing to hide the sheer bulk that was beneath. 

"No, dammit. No..." Karao started to shout. "Cymon! Go away! I'm not in the mood for this right now!" 

"That makes the both of us," the alien boomed, pulling his hood back to unveil his pale face, droplets of rain streaking down his forehead. The way he walked with his arm buried in a sleeve made it seem like he was already holding a portal device. "I had heard the gym was having a competition. I thought it might have been a trap of some sort that I was going to have to diffuse to get at you. It seems I lucked out.” 

“Like hell you did!” she stomped her foot down, the fatigue in her muscles painfully clear despite the confident volume of her voice. “Get out of here before I break your face!” 

“This could be much easier for the both of us,” he said, holding out his free hand. “Give me your lake guardian, and I will leave. It's as simple as that. I know that's not what you intend on doing, so I'll negotiate my end. If you do not comply, a great deal of civilians will die." 

"So the usual, then?" Karao replied with a scowl. She knew there was no way she could win. Even when her body shifted into a fighting stance, her heart definitely wasn't in the motion. It was a waste of time to even try, but it's what she had to do. There was no other choice. 

' _Karao!'_ Azelf's voice echoed behind her ears. She turned her head towards the direction of the gym, but obviously didn't see anything. What she did end up seeing, however, was Tenni limping towards her at full speed. The Mienfoo looked like he was in no condition to be running at all. 

Cymon turned around, too. 

"No! Tenni, stop!" Karao called out to him, but not in time. In one giant step, Cymon swooped forward and scooped the Mienfoo up beneath his arm, nearly crushing him in the process. Tenni kicked and struggled, but there was no hope of escaping a grip like that. Uzume's run-in with him last time had already proved that. 

Her stance went even deeper. "You let him go right now! He's not a part of this!" 

"Hmph. Too easy," Cymon muttered, turning back towards the girl. "Don't think I've forgotten what this creature's done to me. But on his own, he is weak, and he is your weakness, too. Unless you relinquish the Red Chain to me, he won't be anyone's problem anymore." 

"Don't you dare try anything!" Karao was shaking with rage, barely able to control her own breathing. She couldn’t win this even if she tried. "I'll smash your head! I'll break your bones! If you hurt him I swear to god I will tear your limbs off and feed them to a Garchomp! Let! Him! Go!" 

The alien tightened his grip on the Mienfoo. "We're negotiating. Azelf, for your pokemon's life. You have sixty seconds." 

Before Karao could say anything, A tiny figure appeared directly in front of Cymon's face. "Looking for me, coward?" The fairy reared back and kicked Cymon in the chest with such strength that even a mountainous man like him stumbled backwards from the blow, releasing Tenni in the process. 

Karao pulled her pokeball out and recalled Tenni in an instant. As soon as he was safe, she clutched the ball to her chest and sighed, still quivering with equal parts fear and anger. How was she supposed to protect him like this? How could she protect anybody? 

Just a moment later, Uzume and Ikane came running down the street towards her. They shouted for her attention before they saw Cymon, but froze to a halt after. The pause of realization went on for what seemed like an eternity. There was going to be more trouble than just their friend running off, that much was clear. 

Cymon had recovered from the blow, but still had a sour look on his eternally-stern face. "So the cavalry arrived, then? Fine. I was planning on doing this anyway. It's jarring how little you children value your own lives." 

He pulled the portal device from his sleeve, the sword of light emerging with the mere press of a button. Every drop of rain that hit the beam sizzled away in an instant. He stabbed the air between himself and Azelf, opening an impassable rift before the fairy could stop him. And he just kept cutting deeper and deeper, wider than any portal that came before it. Violent distortions shot off from the massive gash like smoke rolling out of fire. 

"To be honest-" Cymon announced above the unnatural sounds of the portal. "-I really don't care for the negotiation parts. I only follow Solisano's orders. If it were up to me, I would have been rid of you a long time ago." 

The portal shimmered menacingly as the ultra beast emerged. At first, it seemed less like a monster and more like a wall of black, but its fiendish features became more clear as it poured into existence. When the creature opened its mouth, she realized it WAS a mouth. The whole thing was fifteen feet of jaws surrounded by horrible spines. Two massive pincers emerged from the sides like a pair of tusks. Its roar was so deep and deafening that it sounded like the earth was splitting apart beneath their feet. 

"Much better!" shouted Cymon, who extended his closed fist towards the girls. "Guzzlord, wreak havok! Devour the city!" 

The ultra beast growled gladly at the command, and then proceeded to eat a nearby parked car in a single bite. Karao watched in utter shock as several tons of metal disappeared into its throat in a way that seemingly defied all logic and spatial physics, all the while its thousands of teeth scraped against paint and metal. 

"What the..." Uzume shook herself awake, wiping the wet hair from her face. "Come on, let’s go already! We gotta take this thing down before it actually eats somebody!" 

Karao barely had time to brace herself before Azelf flew into her chest. She felt his power spread through her like a wildfire, surging into her muscles and burning into her tendons. Even if she wasn't strong enough in her normal body, Scarlet Valor could do the impossible. She could fling boulders, she could stop trains--and if she so much as has a single breath in her lungs, she could put an end to whatever disasters these invaders started. This was her redemption, it had to be. 

 

"Vessel of Emotion, Scarlet Verity!"

 

"Vessel of Knowledge, Scarlet Acquity!"

 

"Vessel of Will, Scarlet Valor!"

 

The Guzzlord was halfway through swallowing a truck whole when Uzume's tracer shots piled into its back. It slowed the monster down a small degree, but it finished the meal without much trouble. Afterwards, the Guzzlord started lumbering towards the railing, seemingly attracted to the noise of more cars. The problem was that there were still actually people in them. 

' _Karao! Let's go!'_ Ikane shouted into her head. 

The two of them flew into the monster's path. Huge pillars of yellow light appeared in the Guzzlord’s path, but the lumbering giant merely had to chomp down on the psychic energy to shatter them, which seemingly made it even hungrier. Any barrier angled too awkwardly to bite was just punched through with its pincers. 

As the Guzzlord blew through its appetizers like a fat man in a buffet, Karao flew up high above. She pointed her heel towards the ultra beast and came straight back down with a mighty kick, the impact running up her leg like a bolt of lightning. It felt like she had just kicked a mountain of solid lead rather than an actual creature. The monster itself barely even stumbled from the blow. It just lumbered onwards without a care in the world. 

Still reeling from the recoil of the failed kick, Karao flew back up into the sky. ' _Ooow! How do we stop it? How are we supposed to stop that thing?'_

' _Maybe we can exploit it psychologically?'_ Ikane slowly replied, mostly concentrating on putting up barriers for it to crash through. ‘ _Uzume, can you tell us anything useful about its intentions?'_

' _Oh my god it's so hungry,'_ Uzume replied with a shudder. ' _There’s basically nothing going on in its head. It's just a huge, black, scaly, spiky ball of hunger.'_

Karao rained fireballs down on the ultrabeast’s head as it plowed through the metal railing and slammed into the road with a booming thud. A car barely managed to swerve out of the way of getting absolutely crushed. ' _Then- then just do the Verity thing and poof its hunger away!'_

' _Hunger isn’t an emotion, you dolt!'_ Mesprit immediately shot back. ' _We can't really do anything else but hit it until it gets more tired than hungry! Hitting stuff's easy enough, right? You’re supposed to be the expert!'_

When it became clear to the drivers that there was a giant monster rampaging on the highway, it became less about saving people's lives and more about stopping this thing from pulverizing an entire section of the city. Blow after blow, Karao pounded into the back of the mountain of scaly flesh and hunger, which did virtually nothing at all to distract it. The Guzzlord eventually whipped around to snatch her out of the air, but she managed to retreat into the sky. 

"It's not working..." Karao looked down at her gloved hands as they throbbed with pain, rain dripping from her fingers onto the concrete far below. No matter how deep she breathed, it never seemed like she could catch her breath. Even Azelf remained silent within her. 

' _Down here, before it collapses the bridge!'_ Uzume called out. The Guzzlord had hobbled over the pillars of an overpass and was in the process of gnawing through them, rebar and all. Verity was bashing the monster in the back while Acquity crammed more shields into its gaping maw. 

There had to be some way to stop it. Karao flew down to the creatures legs and planted her feet onto flat onto the ground, grappling onto it with all her might. By herself, the Guzzlord didn't even budge, but Uzume caught onto the plan and began to pull along with her. 

Just when it seemed like they were nearly about to topple it, the Guzzlord took a huge step and regained its balance. In the next second, the shadow of a massive pincer came over Karao. She could barely move an inch before a solid wall of force smashed her into the ground. 

Pinned to the road, Karao glared up into the beast's beady little eyes. The pincer pushed into her harder and harder, cracking the asphalt underneath. Her arms felt like noodles as she pushed uselessly against the creature's tough hide. A desperate idea flashed through her mind, which meant it flashed through Azelf's mind, too. The wordless exchange went through as an unstoppable energy began to creep up the Guzzlord's arm. The lake guardian took control. 

"Your reign of terror is over! Bow to my will and be reduced to emptiness! Submit, Su-" 

Azelf's power had barely made it halfway up the Guzzlord’s arm before it lifted Valor out of the ground and tossed her straight into the supports of the bridge.The impact wracked her absolutely, to the point that she didn’t feel the fall back down to the earth. In the ensuing whirlpool of pain, she stayed down. What could she possibly accomplish against a foe like this? She was too weak, 

' _Come on, Valor! Are you alright? Get up!'_ Mesprit screamed into her ears. Beyond the overwhelming ache was a chilling, hollow feeling deep within her chest. It was the same freezing cold as whenever she split up with Azelf, wasn’t it? Whatever. She didn't deserve this power, anyways. It was wasted on her. 

Azelf made himself present in her mind. It almost felt like he was looming over her head. ' _Is that all?'_

"I don't know, is it?" Karao chuckled weakly, then rattled out a cough. "Not much point in trying to do something that's impossible. I can't do anything to it." 

' _You believe your friend dislikes you. You suffered a deserving defeat in a competition. You are matched up against foes that seem well beyond your power. Is that supposed to be your limit, then? Is your strength is so easily quantifiable as that?'_

Karao tried to sit up, wincing in pain and clutching at her dislocated shoulder. "I- I-" 

' _I am the being of Willpower. I know the extent that people can push themselves. If your willpower ends here, then I can tell you with absolute certainty that your dreams are worthless, and that your goals will never be met.'_

She glanced up at the battle through blurry eyes. The brilliant flashes of her friends' powers bounced off the wet asphalt and illuminated the spectacle. Uzume's exploding tracers, Ikane's ballistic shields--both of them did nothing. The creature was unstoppable. It had eaten half of two cars and a chunk out of the median wall by the time Karao tried to stand back up, her transformed clothes soaked and dirty. 

"I don't want to-..." she tried to say, but the words caught in her throat. "I don't want to give up. I want to beat it. I just don't know how! Come on, tell me what to do! Please!" 

After a moment of hesitation, Azelf replief. ' _You already know how, but you’ve let yourself be weighed down by such material things. True strength isn’t something you have to prove to anyone. Believe in it, and you will understand.'_

Believe in what? What was she supposed to be believing in? Karao looked down at Scarlet Valor's hands, confused as to why they would belong to her, but they still opened and closed at her command. There had to be something obvious she was missing. She shot a glare towards the Guzzlord, kicked her heels off the shattered pillar behind her, and charged. 

Bursting through a cloud of dust, Karao landed a punch directly into the upper half of the beast. Stabbing needles surged up her arm at the resistance, but the Guzzlord stumbled backwards just the same. She twisted around and launched a barrage of flaming kicks into its back, puffs of steam emerging from the superheated blows. A pillar of yellow light smashed down on the monster's head like a hammer. Reeling, it was unable to guard its tiny face from the onslaught of missiles that Scarlet Verity launched. 

Just when things were starting to turn for the better, the Guzzlord’s pincer shot out and snapped around Karao’s waist. In just the span of a second, she looked up and saw the endless rows of teeth pass above her, a faint blue glow emanating from its impossibly large maw. She spread her arms and legs, using its own teeth as leverage to keep herself from falling in. 

Despite the dire situation Karao was in, she didn’t feel particularly frightened. In fact, she calmer now than she had been all day. Even as the Guzzlord struggled to shove her deeper into its maw. Even as the shouts of her friends echoed from the outside. The monster had made a terrible mistake in thinking that she was harmless enough to put inside its mouth. 

‘ _Now it’s your turn,’_ Azelf said. 

Blue light shimmered in her fingertips, crawling down her arms and into her heart. It felt like her head was about to burst open with a fizzling pressure, the sensation taking over all her senses until even her grip on the creature’s teeth began to weaken. The only thing she could manage to do was point that immense energy inwards. 

Then Karao exploded. The shockwave was unlike anything she had ever experienced, and for a brief moment she was almost certain she was dead. Scarlet Valor was tossed through the air, but Karao was the one who hit the ground, with Azelf limply falling down after her. That freezing exhaustion she had no name for hit like a train. 

From underneath a swirling cloud of smoke, the Guzzlord emerged. Some of its stony teeth had just cracked and fallen away, and many of its scales were crooked or missing. The creature tried to roar and instead let out a hazy wheeze. 

Mesprit very clearly spoke through Scarlet Verity's mouth. "God dammit, Azelf! You did the thing again!" 

Acquity just flew up higher, her hands shrouded with golden psychic energy. "Don’t waste this opportunity Azelf has given us. Come on, let’s finish this thing off!" 

Karao tried to sit up, but that hollow chill was keeping her down like someone was sitting on her chest. She wasn’t the only one. Azelf was hardly breathing himself, lying motionlessly an inch deep in a puddle. He had used up the rest of his power just to deal that decisive blow. But something still didn’t seem right. Why did he say all that stuff about her strength if he was just going to explode on his own? 

In the fuzzy outskirts of her vision, she saw a large figure leap down onto the road with a resounding stomp. There was no need to look at who it was. After all, nobody was as massive as Cymon. 

"One down-" the brute began as he lumbered closer. "-two to go." 

Right, her turn. That’s what that part meant for sure. Fighting tooth and nail against a supernatural fatigue, Karao scooped Azelf into her arms, all the while Cymon casually strolled towards them. 

"What's your problem?" Karao shouted as her legs wobbled beneath her. "You're way stronger than Solisano! Why are you just mindlessly serving that psycho? What could you possibly gain from helping him? He's a lunatic!" 

About ten feet away, Cymon stopped. He crossed one arm over his chest and motioned to the sky with another. Karao was hesitant to let her guard down, but eventually shot a quick glance towards where he pointed. There were a few small breaks in the clouds--spots where sunbeams had escaped past the impenetrable layer of gloom and shined down on the road. The wind moved the clouds and caused the hole to pass over her. For just a brief moment, she had to squint against the sun, and felt its slight warmth on the back of her neck. Just as quickly as it came, though, the sunlight moved on. 

Cymon let his hand drop to his side. "That is why I'm here. I'm a soldier. I don't serve men, I serve their causes, but more than that, I serve the people of the city. Do you honestly believe for one moment that they would welcome us back if we brought them light? We're criminals. They're going to apprehend us no matter what Solisano thinks will happen, but that doesn't concern me in the slightest. That ball of plasma up there is the only thing that matters." 

“But there has to be a better way to achieve that! What’s the point in going through with this if you’re just going to lose in the end?” Azelf's tails hung lifelessly past her arms and bumped into her knees as she pleaded. 

“I know the choice I’ve made. If I had the chance to bring light to my city, what would it matter what happens to me? That is the only way I would have my strength used. That is my dream.“ He balled his hand into a fist, which he pointed straight at Karao. "I'll be taking that pokemon. If you try and stop me, I will use force." 

"Over my dead body," she growled in return, pivoting around to get a running start down the street. 

"Then that's how it will be." 

With Karao's shambling sprint and Cymon's enormous stride, he was upon her in seconds. A gust of wind brushed past her head as she narrowly ducked beneath a punch, sliding over the wet concrete in the process. He followed up with a kick to her back, which she dodged by less than an inch. Two more near-misses later and she hadn’t gained any distance at all. 

Wet strands escaped Karao’s ponytail and fell over her eyes as she whipped around. No more running away today--that mood was finished. Azelf tightly in her arms, she ducked low and delivered a solid kick to Cymon’s knee. His polymer armor absorbed the blow, but it at least granted her a few feet of space and another head-start. 

She couldn’t win this fight. That hasn't changed since last time, but now it was clear that she couldn’t afford to lose, either. The fate of the lake guardians was up in the air and the ball was in her court. In the blur of battle, she saw Cymon’s determined face and felt the same glare as her final opponent in the tournament. But it wasn’t as intimidating when she was wearing the same expression. 

The shrill sound of ceramic armor rebounding off the bottom of her boots was ringing in the air. Karao landed hits where she could, avoiding hundreds of pounds of muscle where she had to. A howling filled her eardrums where burning blood pumped through her veins. Every pivot and twist was made with supernatural confidence, like the bottoms of her feet were connecting with the earth in each step. 

The battle went on for what seemed like minutes, though it was probably just a large handful of seconds. The both of them heaved with effort as the rain whipped off their bodies from every violent motion. Just when it seemed like it would keep going on forever, a shimmering yellow glow burst out from between them, pushing them both away. 

"Back off," Scarlet Acquity barked, ragged and dirty but still very much capable. In the shock of the moment, Verity came up from behind Cymon and pointed two shining fingers at the back of his head. 

"Looks like you’re out of time!" Uzume said with a tired yet triumphant grin, then gestured towards the fallen Guzzlord. The ominous blue glow and disappeared from its mouth entirely, and it was slumped over against the median like a big deflated basketball. "Tell that stupid thing to waddle off back to its buffet dimension or I'm gonna blast you to pieces!" 

Cymon glanced at the asphalt and sighed before he snapped his fingers. "Guzzlord. Leave this place and return to your plane." 

The brute didn’t even pay attention to the threat against his life pointed at the back of his head. He kept his eyes trained solely on Karao from the other side of the barrier. "When it can move again, it will leave. Lucky you. Guzzlord are some of the most invasive known ultra beasts. If you hadn't managed to take it down, it would have just continued to eat through the city until it was a desolate pile of rubble. Next time, you won’t be so lucky." 

The alien started to walk away. Scarlet Verity shouted after him, but Mesprit must have held her back. There was no need to fight more than was necessary. Not long after that, the massive monster in the middle of the road started to crawl away, its scales scraping against the road as it dragged itself along. It managed to pull itself up the ledge it jumped down from and disappeared through the oversized portal with one final pop. 

Like always, the next challenge came when the their transformations began to wear thin. There’d surely be someone coming by to figure out what’s been causing all this trouble on the road. Verity carried Karao up the wall and immediately flew off for somewhere to conceal themselves. 

She personally didn’t have any problem hiding Azelf in the folds of her dojo uniform, seeing as she’d already separated a while ago, but Ikane and Uzume could only make it about halfway into a nearby parking lot before exhaustion finally split them apart. Once Karao finally caught up with them, she slid down the side of a van and joined them on the ground. 

"Azelf. Hey, buddy," Mesprit sputtered out from behind Uzume’s limp arms. "What if, one of these times, you remembered to actually tell the rest of us before using that attack? Honestly, there hasn’t been a single time you’ve warned us, ever! What if Karao wasn’t able to carry you out?!" 

The fairy didn't even bother to open his eyes. "Of course she was able. She’s Scarlet Valor." 

"Honestly, you probably had more faith in me than I did,” Karao said with a shrug. “I’ve pretty much just been winging it all day, and haven’t been very good at it for that matter. Cymon would’ve probably clobbered my head in if you guys didn’t come when you did. Azelf was the one that saved the day.” 

“Do you honestly believe that?” Ikane said as she shielded her head from the rain witht be back of her coat. 

“What? Did you think I was going to beat Cymon in a fight with only my legs after a tournament and a detransformation?” Karao stared down at the concrete. “Come on, dude. The least I could do was run around him for a while. It’s basically the only thing I’ve done right all day.” 

Uxie lifted his head. “But it was your action that saved the day in the first place. And Azelf couldn’t have used Explosion in that form without first tapping into your will. You would have had to at least been in a state of mind that allowed-” The fairy let his head roll to the side once more. “He didn’t tell you what was going to happen, did he?” 

“She knew what she needed to know,” Azelf grunted proudly. 

“Still!” Uzume interjected. “You shouldn’t be feeling so bad about yourself in the first place! You made it three rounds into a competition where you were the youngest possible age to even enter! And I definitely don’t think any of us could have held out against Cymon for a fraction of the time you did.” 

Another dismissive shrug left Karao’s shoulders. “But that’s just kinda my thing, though. I didn’t exceed any expectations, I just met them. That’s not what a gym leader would’ve done.” 

Ikane clicked her tongue. “Karao, you’re an idiot.” 

“I mean, you’re not wro-” 

“No, you’re an idiot because you’ve somehow still found a way to doubt yourself even after all this.” After she brushed the rain off her glasses, Ikane stared her dead in the eyes. “Stop kidding yourself already. You’re so much closer to your dream than we are and you don’t even know it. Nobody ever exceeds their expectations! Maylene’s the strongest trainer in the city, but what about the League? What about all the trainers out in the wilderness that are better than her? You’re in middle school, Karao! And all day you’ve only done amazing things!” 

Karao had to pause just to process what was being said. “I- I thought you would be disappointed in me for losing.” 

“Disappointed? Don’t you get it? I’m jealous of you!” Ikane jumped to her feet in an instant. “What are you, stupid? I wish I could have even half the motivation you’re churning out every single hour of every day! You’re so goddamn good at what you do and you don’t even know it! Meanwhile I barely even understand half of what I read in my stupid aerospace books! You got THREE rounds into that tournament! It had five rounds total! I don’t even care if Azelf did most of the work on that ultra beast, you were beating on it long before that point! Geez...” 

“So...” Karao struggled to even begin. “So you don’t hate me?” 

“Hate you? We’re friends, you idiot. Of course I don’t hate you. I just hate you in the ways you’re better than me.” 

Uzume wrung the water out of her hair, clearly unsure of whether to smile or not. “Geez, Ikane. I think you’re more aggressive than she is.” 

In turn, she hid her eyes behind the coat and sat back on the wet ground. “I get frustrated, okay?” 

After a few moments, it started to finally sink in. Karao took in a deep breath through her nose, and when she exhaled through her mouth, it was like a thousand tons of weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Then she got mad. “Wait a god dang second. Can you believe the nerve of that Monferno kid? I can’t believe he actually flipped me, in the MIDDLE of my combination attack! Who does that punk think he is? What, is he trying to overthrow Maylene before me or something? I’m gonna knock his teeth out if that’s his plan!” 

“Oh, there we go. Karao’s back.” Mesprit chimed in. 

Damn right she was. Karao stood straight up, nearly hitting her shoulder on the car’s mirror in the process. “You know what? Wet clothes are heavier, meaning it’ll be harder to run a lap around the parking lot, which makes it strength training! I gotta start now if I want to win that tournament next year!” 

“God, we’re all going to get colds at this rate.” Ikane pulled herself up, beckoned for Uxie to follow her, and started to walk away. “I’m going home. If you die of pneumonia out here, I’m going to desecrate your grave for being so stupid.” 

Karao shot an expectant glance at Uzume, who then did everything she could to avoid eye contact. “Uhh. Well- It’s not like I don’t want to run with you or anything, but I- Um. I left the oven on back at home! And I’m still weak from all the fighting! And I need to do my laundry! And homework, too!” 

“It’s summer, there’s not even any homework to do!” 

“Woops gotta go!” While Ikane just casually walked away, Uzume sped out of there like she really had left the oven on this whole time. 

Whatever! That was fine, too! They weren’t the ones that had some kid they needed to wipe the floor with next year. Karao looked up at the grey clouds, exhaled, and felt all that rage just deflate completely. In its wake wasn’t the same inadequacy she’d been feeling all day, but something distinctly confident, like the future was already set in stone. Emotionless, but way more powerful. She was going to beat that kid next year, and one day, she was going to be the gym leader.


End file.
